Adaptive Prediction of Environmental Changes by Microorganisms

Abstract

The "Virtual Paper" section provides hyperlinks to already published papers in other journals, which are selected by the editors as excellent papers in topological science and technology.

Evaluating rRNA as an indicator of microbial activity in environmental communities: limitations and uses

“…Similar results were found for a strain of Prochlorococcus in which expression of ribosomal genes was higher during a dark cycle than during a light cycle (Zinser et al, 2009). Further evidence for anticipatory behavior in bacteria was found in E. coli manifesting a Pavlovian-type response to a primary stimulus by preemptively modifying genetic expression for a secondary stimulus before it occurred (Tagkopoulos et al, 2008;Mitchell et al, 2009). Anticipatory strategies may also take place on a seasonal scale: at the end of a summer dry-down period, Mediterranean soil communities showed almost no measurable microbial activity (based on CO 2 production), yet total extractable bacterial 16S rRNA was similar to that found after the microbes become activated by the first wet-up event (Placella et al, 2012), which could reflect anticipation for the upcoming annual rainy season (Barnard et al, 2013).…”

“…For example, the relationship between microbial activity and measurable rRNA can be influenced by heterogeneity of cell physiology within a population (Licht et al, 1999), changes in the ratio of non-growth to growth-specific metabolic activity, life history (Oda et al, 2000), life strategy (Flärdh et al, 1992;Lepp and Schmidt, 1998;Mitchell et al, 2009;Sukenik et al, 2012), sample heterogeneity, changing environmental conditions and of course fundamental enzyme kinetics (that is, substrate concentration). Additionally, the concentration of rRNA in a cell at a given point in time is the net result of rRNA synthesis (that is, transcription) and degradation rates (Gausing, 1977), each of which may be under distinct controls.…”

Candida albicansdimorphism as a therapeutic target

“…The former allows rapid adaptation to changing environmental conditions and is a hallmark of unicellular life. The latter may be analogous to predictive adaptation [53] and prepare the fungus for subsequent stages of infection. Perhaps C. albicans has 'learned' that during invasive (hyphal) growth it will encounter reactive oxygen species (a common host response to infection), ferritin (the major intracellular iron storage molecule) and proteinderived nitrogen sources, and coordinates gene expression accordingly.…”

Epigenomic plasticity within populations: its evolutionary significance and potential

“…There is evidence from wild plant populations that transgenerational plasticity is adaptive and leads to increased fitness (Galloway and Etterson, 2007) and from microorganism populations that 'environmental anticipation has been selected for during evolution' (Mitchell et al, 2009). Transgenerational inheritance of epigenetic marks increases phenotypic variation in a manner that appears to condition the organism for stabilising selection (Rando and Verstrepen, 2007).…”