Open AccessSlower growth of Escherichia coli leads to longer survival in carbon starvation due to a decrease in the maintenance rate
Author(s) -
Biselli Elena,
Schink Severin Josef,
Gerland Ulrich
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
molecular systems biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.523
H-Index - 148
ISSN - 1744-4292
DOI - 10.15252/msb.20209478
Subject(s) - chemostat , starvation , growth rate , biology , nutrient , escherichia coli , bacteria , programmed cell death , yield (engineering) , exponential growth , carbon source , carbon fibers , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , ecology , apoptosis , genetics , gene , mathematical analysis , geometry , mathematics , materials science , composite number , metallurgy , composite material , endocrinology
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.