Bacteria grow swiftly and live thriftily

Roberto Kolter; Nathalie Balaban; Thomas Julou

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.005

Bacteria grow swiftly and live thriftily

Curr Biol. 2022 Jun 20;32(12):R599-R605. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.005.

Authors

Roberto Kolter¹, Nathalie Balaban², Thomas Julou³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: roberto_kolter@hms.harvard.edu.
² Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 9190401, Israel.
³ Biozentrum and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Basel, Basel, CH 4056, Switzerland.

PMID: 35728536
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.005

Abstract

Bacteria have evolved numerous strategies to use resources efficiently. However, bacterial economies depend on both the physiological context of the organisms as well as their growth state - whether they are growing, non-growing or reinitiating growth. In this essay, we discuss some of the features that make bacteria efficient under these different conditions and during the transitions between them. We also highlight the many outstanding questions regarding the physiology of non-growing bacterial cells. Lastly, we examine how efficiency is apparent in both the mode and tempo of bacterial evolution.

MeSH terms

Bacteria*