Isolation of colonization-defective Escherichia coli mutants reveals critical requirement for fatty acids in bacterial colony formation.

ABSTRACT: Most bacterial cells in nature exhibit extremely low colony-forming activity, despite showing various signs of viability, impeding the isolation and utilization of many bacterial resources. However, the general causes responsible for this state of low colony formation are largely unknown. Because liquid cultivation typically yields more bacterial cell cultures than traditional solid cultivation, we hypothesized that colony formation requires one or more specific gene functions that are dispensable or less important for growth in liquid media. To verify our hypothesis and reveal the genetic background limiting colony formation among bacteria in nature, we isolated Escherichia coli mutants that had decreased frequencies of colony formation but could grow in liquid medium from a temperature-s

SUBMITTER: Nosho K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6230765 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature