Cellular processes are typically controlled by gene regulatory circuits
that are comprised of interactions among genes and proteins.  However,
the functional importance of a particular pattern of interactions
(architecture) that constitutes a genetic circuit is typically poorly
understood.  Our model system of choice is the genetic circuit that
controls differentiation of Bacillus subtilis cells into the state of
competence.  To dissect the biological importance of this bacterial
differentiation circuit, we engineered a seemingly equivalent circuit
with an alternative architecture.  Comparative analysis of native and
synthetic circuits revealed a noise-mediated tradeoff between temporal
precision and physiological reliability that is encoded into the
architecture of the bacterial cellular differentiation circuit.