Stationary Phase Adaptation in Escherichia coli
Summary
Escherichia coli adapts to nutrient exhaustion by entering a stationary phase in which cell division halts but metabolic activity persists. During this transition, the bacterium undergoes global rewiring of gene expression orchestrated by stress‐responsive sigma factors, particularly RpoS, and by the stringent response mediated through (p)ppGpp. Cells remodel their envelopes, enhance DNA repair pathways, activate chaperones and proteases, and adjust central metabolism to conserve energy. A subset of the population differentiates into persister cells, which exhibit profound tolerance to antibiotics and environmental insults. Over time, stationary-phase cultures display biphasic survival kinetics, reflecting an initial period of resilience followed by gradual viability loss. This survival strategy has profound implications for chronic infections, where non-growing cells evade treatment, and for biotechnological processes that exploit stationary-phase promoters for recombinant protein production. Understanding the balance between long-term viability and the capacity to resume growth is essential for interventions aimed at eradicating persistent bacteria or harnessing them as biocatalysts.
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Stationary Phase Adaptation in Escherichia coli publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in stationary phase adaptation in escherichia coli across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Stationary phase: Growth stage in which nutrient depletion halts net population increase while cells remain metabolically active.
RpoS (σS): Alternative sigma factor that directs RNA polymerase to stress-response genes during stationary phase.
Stringent response: Global regulatory mechanism triggered by amino acid or energy limitation, mediated by the alarmones (p)ppGpp.
Colony forming unit (CFU): Measure of viable bacteria capable of producing colonies on solid medium.
Persister cells: Subpopulation of dormant or slow-growing bacteria that tolerate antibiotics and other stresses without genetic resistance.
References
- Reconsidering Dogmas about the Growth of Bacterial Populations. Cells (2023).
- Molecular Basis of Stationary Phase Survival and Applications. Frontiers in Microbiology (2017).
- Density-Dependent Recycling Promotes the Long-Term Survival of Bacterial Populations during Periods of Starvation. mBio (2017).
- Survival Kinetics of Starving Bacteria Is Biphasic and Density-Dependent. PLOS Computational Biology (2015).
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