Dormancy in Microbial Spores

Sussman, Alfred S.; Douthit, H. A.

doi:10.1146/annurev.pp.24.060173.001523

Cited by 118 publications

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“…For example, microbial dormancy is commonly identified via morphological features such as endospores, cysts, or conidia. However, microbes can enter reversible states of reduced metabolic activity without investment in specialized cellular structures (12,43). Persistor cells, which are capable of surviving antibiotic treatment without resistance mutations, represent one example of this form of dormancy (13).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dormancy contributes to the maintenance of microbial diversity

Jones

Lennon

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

769

650

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Dormancy is a bet-hedging strategy used by a variety of organisms to overcome unfavorable environmental conditions. By entering a reversible state of low metabolic activity, dormant individuals become members of a seed bank, which can determine community dynamics in future generations. Although microbiologists have documented dormancy in both clinical and natural settings, the importance of seed banks for the diversity and functioning of microbial communities remains untested. Here, we develop a theoretical model demonstrating that microbial communities are structured by environmental cues that trigger dormancy. A molecular survey of lake ecosystems revealed that dormancy plays a more important role in shaping bacterial communities than eukaryotic microbial communities. The proportion of dormant bacteria was relatively low in productive ecosystems but accounted for up to 40% of taxon richness in nutrient-poor systems. Our simulations and empirical data suggest that regional environmental cues and dormancy synchronize the composition of active communities across the landscape while decoupling active microbes from the total community at local scales. Furthermore, we observed that rare bacterial taxa were disproportionately active relative to common bacterial taxa, suggesting that microbial rank-abundance curves are more dynamic than previously considered. We propose that repeated transitions to and from the seed bank may help maintain the high levels of microbial biodiversity that are observed in nearly all ecosystems.biodiversity | ecosystem function | microbial ecology | modeling | seed bank

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many microorganisms are capable of resisting stressors such as temperature, desiccation, and antibiotics by entering resting states or by forming spores (10)(11)(12). Because of its implications for disease, the molecular and cellular underpinning of dormancy is fairly well known for a few clinically important strains of bacteria (13).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dormancy contributes to the maintenance of microbial diversity

Jones

Lennon

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

769

650

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“…The reason for this different behaviour may be another dormancy mechanism of R. oligosporus sporangiospores. Constitutive dormancy has been reported in Distyostelium discoideum and Phycomyces blakesleeanus (Sussman and Douthit, 1973;Van Mulders and Van Laere, 1984). Supposing constitutive dormancy occurs in N. tetrasperma and M. miehi spores, because heat treatment is required for activation, it might indicate that the dormancy of R. oligosporus and M. rouxii (Dewerchin and Van Laere, 1984) could be termed exogenous, as nutrient supplementation initiates their germination.…”

Section: Dormancy and Activation Of Dormant Sporesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dormancy, activation and viability of Rhizopus oligosporus sporangiospores

Thành

Nout

2004

International Journal of Food Microbiology

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“…Since reduction of metabolic activity and storage of energy were considered to be essential for the survival of many organisms (Sussman & Douhit 1973), particular attention was paid to changes in metabolic activity and chemical composition during the transition from vegetative cells to resting spores or vegetative-looking cells formed under nutrient depletion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecophysiological characterization of two life forms, resting spores and resting cells, of a marine planktonic diatom, Chaetoceros pseudocun/isetus, formed under nutrient depletion

Kuwata¹,

Hama²,

Takahashi³

1993

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

131

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Ecophysiological characteristics of 2 life forms, resting spores and resting cells, produced from vegetative cells of the marine d~a t o m Chaetoceros pseudocurvisetus (Mangin) under nitrogen depletion were ~nvestigated. Carbon and sillcon were concentrated In resting spores to a greater extent than nltrogen and chlorophyll a (chl a) although the levels of nitrogen and chl a were similar to those in vegetative cells. Resting cells were similar in appearance to vegetative cells but with weakly pigmented, shrunken and fragmented chloroplasts, and contained slightly more slllcon, reduced nitrogen and chl a and similar amounts of carbon in comparison with the vegetative cells. Respiratory and photosynthetic activity was depressed In both resting spores and resting cells. Net photosynthesis was slightly positive in resting spores and slightly negative In resting cells. Both resting spores and r e s t~n g cells accumulated neutral lipids mainly composed of myristic (C,, "), palmitic ( C l e 0 ) and palmtoleic (C,,; ,) acids as a stored energy source with increased unsaturation of fatty acids. Resting spores also stored large amounts of glucose in reserved polysacchandes These charactenstics indicate that each life form represents a different degree of the adaptive restlng stage for survival under nutnent depletion

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Dormancy in Microbial Spores

Cited by 118 publications

References 0 publications

Dormancy contributes to the maintenance of microbial diversity

Dormancy contributes to the maintenance of microbial diversity

Dormancy, activation and viability of Rhizopus oligosporus sporangiospores

Ecophysiological characterization of two life forms, resting spores and resting cells, of a marine planktonic diatom, Chaetoceros pseudocun/isetus, formed under nutrient depletion

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