Fig. 4: Sequential branching circuits for stepwise differentiation.
a, Two-layer branching circuit using two recombinases to generate three terminal cell types; experimentally measured ratios were used to estimate circuit outputs. b, Circuit states during two-step differentiation. c, Fluorescence images showing population transitions at each step; representative images from three independent experiments. Main panels show fluorescence images acquired from liquid cultures, whereas insets show images of colonies on agar plates. Scale bars, 20 μm (main images); 1 mm (insets). d, Comparison of predicted and measured progeny distributions (mean ± s.d., n = 8 biological replicates). e, Two-layer branching circuit using three recombinases to produce four progeny types. f, Circuit states during differentiation. g, Fluorescence images of population changes; representative images from three independent experiments. Scale bars, 20 μm (main images); 1 mm (insets). h, Predicted versus observed distributions (mean ± s.d., n = 8 biological replicates). i, Three-layer branching circuit using three recombinases to generate four progeny types. j, Circuit states during three-step differentiation. k, Fluorescence images showing population transitions; representative images from three independent experiments. Scale bars, 20 μm (main images); 1 mm (insets). l, Comparison of predicted and measured distributions (mean ± s.d., n = 8 biological replicates).
