Metabolic activity affects the response of single cells to a nutrient switch in structured populations.

ABSTRACT: Microbes live in ever-changing environments where they need to adapt their metabolism to different nutrient conditions. Many studies have characterized the response of genetically identical cells to nutrient switches in homogeneous cultures; however, in nature, microbes often live in spatially structured groups such as biofilms where cells can create metabolic gradients by consuming and releasing nutrients. Consequently, cells experience different local microenvironments and vary in their phenotype. How does this phenotypic variation affect the ability of cells to cope with nutrient switches? Here, we address this question by growing dense populations of Escherichia coli in microfluidic chambers and studying a switch from glucose to acetate at the single-cell level. Before the switch, cell

SUBMITTER: Dal Co A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6685030 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature