ArticlePLoS computational biology2015
Survival kinetics of starving bacteria is biphasic and density-dependent.
Article in PLoS computational biology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed.
- Global proteolysis during starvation governs proteome remodeling and a survival-regrowth trade-off in bacteria.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- E. coli prepares for starvation by dramatically remodeling its proteome in the first hours after loss of nutrients.Molecular systems biology · 2026Article
- In-Use Stability and Device Compatibility Define Clinically Actionable Handling Limits for a GMP-Produced AttenuatedVaccines · 2026Article
- Understanding time-growth rate relationship for slow-growing microbial cells in retentostat culturing systems.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Time Series Data Mining for Linking the Shape of Bacterial Growth Curves to Biological Functions.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2026Article
- Global constraint principle for microbial growth laws.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Minimal changes in microbial abundances and diversity over 7 years of emplacement for modules of compacted bentonite exposed to natural groundwater.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Plasmid-encoded phosphatase RapP enhances cell growth in non-domesticated Bacillus subtilis strains.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Survival dynamics of starving bacteria are determined by ion homeostasis that maintains plasmolysis.Nature physics · 2024Article
- Shaping of microbial phenotypes by trade-offs.Nature communications · 2024Review
- Ribosome-binding antibiotics increase bacterial longevity and growth efficiency.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Inference of transcriptome signatures of Escherichia coli in long-term stationary phase.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- NtrC Increases Fitness of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium under Low and Fluctuating Nutrient Conditions.Journal of bacteriology · 2022Article
- Analysis of proteome adaptation reveals a key role of the bacterial envelope in starvation survival.Molecular systems biology · 2022Article
- Computationally efficient framework for diagnosing, understanding and predicting biphasic population growth.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2022Article
- Distinct Survival, Growth Lag, and rRNA Degradation Kinetics during Long-Term Starvation for Carbon or Phosphate.mSphere · 2022Article
- Spatial regulation of cell motility and its fitness effect in a surface-attached bacterial community.The ISME journal · 2022Article
- The Dark Side of Microbial Processes: Accumulation of Nitrate During Storage of Surface Water in the Dark and the Underlying Mechanism.Microbiology spectrum · 2022Article
- Cyclical Patterns Affect Microbial Dynamics in the Water Basin of a Nuclear Research Reactor.Frontiers in microbiology · 2021Article
- Slower growth of Escherichia coli leads to longer survival in carbon starvation due to a decrease in the maintenance rate.Molecular systems biology · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In the lifecycle of microorganisms, prolonged starvation is prevalent and sustaining life during starvation periods is a vital task. In the literature, it is commonly assumed that survival kinetics of starving microbes follows exponential decay. This assumption, however, has not been rigorously tested. Currently, it is not clear under what circumstances this assumption is true. Also, it is not known when such survival kinetics deviates from exponential decay and if it deviates, what underlying mechanisms for the deviation are. Here, to address these issues, we quantitatively characterized dynamics of survival and death of starving E. coli cells. The results show that the assumption--starving cells die exponentially--is true only at high cell density. At low density, starving cells persevere for extended periods of time, before dying rapidly exponentially. Detailed analyses show intriguing quantitative characteristics of the density-dependent and biphasic survival kinetics, including that the period of the perseverance is inversely proportional to cell density. These characteristics further lead us to identification of key underlying processes relevant for the perseverance of starving cells. Then, using mathematical modeling, we show how these processes contribute to the density-dependent and biphasic survival kinetics observed. Importantly, our model reveals a thrifty strategy employed by bacteria, by which upon sensing impending depletion of a substrate, the limiting substrate is conserved and utilized later during starvation to delay cell death. These findings advance quantitative understanding of survival of microbes in oligotrophic environments and facilitate quantitative analysis and prediction of microbial dynamics in nature. Furthermore, they prompt revision of previous models used to analyze and predict population dynamics of microbes.
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