Model of inducible transcription in a living cell immobilized on a polylysine-coated surface. (A) Simple reaction scheme of efflux-mediated inducible transcription. T, R, and O represent aTc molecules, TetR dimers, and operator sites, respectively. The tet promoter has two identical operators. RT, ORT, RT2, and ORT2 stand for TetR:aTc, O:TetR:aTc, TetR:aTc2, and O:TetR:aTc2 complexes, respectively. K0, K1, K2, and KT are binding constants (Supplementary Material). (B) Simulated RNA profiles (solid lines) in wild-type cells for various aTc induction levels: 200 ng/ml (light shaded), 400 ng/ml (shaded), and 1000 ng/ml (dark shaded). Experimental data from Fig. 2 D (•). Simulated RNA profile (dashed line) for steady intracellular [aTc] = 400 ng/ml (μ = 0 s−1). Experimental data from Fig. 5 A (▪).