Fig. 1

Eigenvalue and eigenvector analysis of the Mutual Inhibition/Self Activation (MISA) network. a Schematic of the MISA network motif. b The fifteen largest eigenvalues of the stochastic transition matrix T(τ), indexed in descending order, for τ = 5 (circles) and τ = 0.5 (crosses) (time units of inverse protein degradation rate, k ^− 1). Gaps indicate separation between processes occurring on different timescales. Network parameter values are listed in Additional file 1: Table S1. c The quasipotential landscape (left) and probability landscape (right) for the MISA motif, projected onto the A vs. B protein copy number subspace, showing four visible basins Landscapes were obtained from ϕ ₁, the eigenvector associated with the largest eigenvalue of T(τ). d Left to right: second, third, and fourth eigenvectors (ϕ ₂, ϕ ₃, ϕ ₄) of T(τ). The sign structure reveals the nature of the slowest dynamical processes (see text)