Slower growth of Escherichia coli leads to longer survival in carbon starvation due to a decrease in the maintenance rate
Abstract Fitness of bacteria is determined both by how fast cells grow when nutrients are abundant and by how well they survive when conditions worsen. Here, we study how prior growth conditions affect the death rate of Escherichia coli during carbon starvation. We control the growth rate prior to s...
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| Format: | Article |
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Springer Nature
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Molecular Systems Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20209478 |
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| author | Elena Biselli Severin Josef Schink Ulrich Gerland |
| author_facet | Elena Biselli Severin Josef Schink Ulrich Gerland |
| author_sort | Elena Biselli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Fitness of bacteria is determined both by how fast cells grow when nutrients are abundant and by how well they survive when conditions worsen. Here, we study how prior growth conditions affect the death rate of Escherichia coli during carbon starvation. We control the growth rate prior to starvation either via the carbon source or via a carbon‐limited chemostat. We find a consistent dependence where death rate depends on the prior growth conditions only via the growth rate, with slower growth leading to exponentially slower death. Breaking down the observed death rate into two factors, maintenance rate and recycling yield, reveals that slower growing cells display a decreased maintenance rate per cell volume during starvation, thereby decreasing their death rate. In contrast, the ability to scavenge nutrients from carcasses of dead cells (recycling yield) remains constant. Our results suggest a physiological trade‐off between rapid proliferation and long survival. We explore the implications of this trade‐off within a mathematical model, which can rationalize the observation that bacteria outside of lab environments are not optimized for fast growth. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d6bbea9708ff4b35a70afd4f1833a86b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1744-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Molecular Systems Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-d6bbea9708ff4b35a70afd4f1833a86b2025-08-20T03:46:37ZengSpringer NatureMolecular Systems Biology1744-42922020-06-0116611310.15252/msb.20209478Slower growth of Escherichia coli leads to longer survival in carbon starvation due to a decrease in the maintenance rateElena Biselli0Severin Josef Schink1Ulrich Gerland2Physics of Complex Biosystems, Physics Department, Technical University of MunichPhysics of Complex Biosystems, Physics Department, Technical University of MunichPhysics of Complex Biosystems, Physics Department, Technical University of MunichAbstract Fitness of bacteria is determined both by how fast cells grow when nutrients are abundant and by how well they survive when conditions worsen. Here, we study how prior growth conditions affect the death rate of Escherichia coli during carbon starvation. We control the growth rate prior to starvation either via the carbon source or via a carbon‐limited chemostat. We find a consistent dependence where death rate depends on the prior growth conditions only via the growth rate, with slower growth leading to exponentially slower death. Breaking down the observed death rate into two factors, maintenance rate and recycling yield, reveals that slower growing cells display a decreased maintenance rate per cell volume during starvation, thereby decreasing their death rate. In contrast, the ability to scavenge nutrients from carcasses of dead cells (recycling yield) remains constant. Our results suggest a physiological trade‐off between rapid proliferation and long survival. We explore the implications of this trade‐off within a mathematical model, which can rationalize the observation that bacteria outside of lab environments are not optimized for fast growth.https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20209478bacterial fitnessbacterial survivalbacterial systems biologydeath ratequantitative physiology |
| spellingShingle | Elena Biselli Severin Josef Schink Ulrich Gerland Slower growth of Escherichia coli leads to longer survival in carbon starvation due to a decrease in the maintenance rate Molecular Systems Biology bacterial fitness bacterial survival bacterial systems biology death rate quantitative physiology |
| title | Slower growth of Escherichia coli leads to longer survival in carbon starvation due to a decrease in the maintenance rate |
| title_full | Slower growth of Escherichia coli leads to longer survival in carbon starvation due to a decrease in the maintenance rate |
| title_fullStr | Slower growth of Escherichia coli leads to longer survival in carbon starvation due to a decrease in the maintenance rate |
| title_full_unstemmed | Slower growth of Escherichia coli leads to longer survival in carbon starvation due to a decrease in the maintenance rate |
| title_short | Slower growth of Escherichia coli leads to longer survival in carbon starvation due to a decrease in the maintenance rate |
| title_sort | slower growth of escherichia coli leads to longer survival in carbon starvation due to a decrease in the maintenance rate |
| topic | bacterial fitness bacterial survival bacterial systems biology death rate quantitative physiology |
| url | https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20209478 |
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