$\lambda$-prophage induction modeled as a cooperative failure mode of lytic repression

We analyze a system-level model for lytic repression of $\lambda$-phage in {\it E. coli\/} using reliability theory, showing that the repressor circuit comprises 4 redundant components whose failure mode is prophage induction. Our model reflects the specific biochemical mechanisms involved in regulation, including long-range cooperative binding, and its detailed predictions for prophage induction in {\it E. coli\/} under ultra-violet radiation are in good agreement with experimental data.