Stochastic Switching of Cell Fate in Microbes

Norman, Thomas M.; Lord, Nathan D.; Paulsson, Johan; Losick, Richard

doi:10.1146/annurev-micro-091213-112852

Cited by 165 publications

(207 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…Complex regulatory pathways may allow for a more long-lived stochastic phenotype than noisy gene expression alone [57]. The emergence of bethedging strategies is often reported to be regulated by feedback loops.…”

Section: Stochasticity Of Events and Cell Fate Decisionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular and cellular bases of adaptation to a changing environment in microorganisms

Bleuven

Landry

2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Environmental heterogeneity constitutes an evolutionary challenge for organisms. While evolutionary dynamics under variable conditions has been explored for decades, we still know relatively little about the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved. It is of paramount importance to examine these molecular bases because they may play an important role in shaping the course of evolution. In this review, we examine the diversity of adaptive mechanisms in the face of environmental changes. We exploit the recent literature on microbial systems because those have benefited the most from the recent emergence of genetic engineering and experimental evolution followed by genome sequencing. We identify four emerging trends: (i) an adaptive molecular change in a pathway often results in fitness trade-off in alternative environments but the effects are dependent on a mutation's genetic background; (ii) adaptive changes often modify transcriptional and signalling pathways; (iii) several adaptive changes may occur within the same molecular pathway but be associated with pleiotropy of different signs across environments; (iv) because of their large associated costs, macromolecular changes such as gene amplification and aneuploidy may be a rapid mechanism of adaptation in the short-term only. The course of adaptation in a variable environment, therefore, depends on the complexity of the environment but also on the molecular relationships among the genes involved and between the genes and the phenotypes under selection.

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Section: Stochasticity Of Events and Cell Fate Decisionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular and cellular bases of adaptation to a changing environment in microorganisms

Bleuven

Landry

2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…In nature, however, bacteria face nutrient-depleted conditions frequently. The emergence of specialized cell types in response has been interpreted as a bet-hedging strategy that increases the chance that viable cells will survive the crisis to resume proliferation (Veening et al, 2008a;Norman et al, 2015). The K-state, for example, would be poorly adapted to a nutrient-rich environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental evolution of Bacillus subtilis

Zeigler

Nicholson

2017

Environmental Microbiology

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Summary The endospore‐forming bacteria have persisted on earth perhaps 3Ga, leveraging the flexibility of their distinctive lifestyle to adapt to a remarkably wide range of environments. This process of adaptation can be investigated through the simple but powerful technique of laboratory evolution. Evolved strains can be analyzed by whole genome sequencing and an array of omics technologies. The intensively studied, genetically tractable endospore‐former, Bacillus subtilis, is an ideal subject for laboratory evolution experiments. Here, we describe the use of the B. subtilis model system to study the adaptation of these bacteria to reduced and stringent selection for endospore formation, as well as to novel environmental challenges of low atmospheric pressure, high ultraviolet radiation, and unfavourable growth temperatures. In combination with other approaches, including comparative genomics and environmental field work, laboratory evolution may help elucidate how these bacteria have so successfully adapted to life on earth, and perhaps beyond.

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“…However, direct quantification of the underlying growth and division dynamics at the level of the individual cell has only recently become possible, following advances in quantitative single-cell technologies [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. While population growth of cells is typically a deterministic process, which follows a smooth exponential function under favorable conditions, single-cell growth and division dynamics are highly stochastic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Typically, the coefficient of variation (COV, defined as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean) of division times is 10%-30% [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Using recent advances in single-cell technologies, it is possible to characterize these fluctuations with exquisite precision for large ensembles of statistically identical cells [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bridging the Timescales of Single-Cell and Population Dynamics

et al. 2018

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How are granular details of stochastic growth and division of individual cells reflected in smooth deterministic growth of population numbers? We provide an integrated, multiscale perspective of microbial growth dynamics by formulating a data-validated theoretical framework that accounts for observables at both single-cell and population scales. We derive exact analytical complete time-dependent solutions to cell-age distributions and population growth rates as functionals of the underlying interdivision time distributions, for symmetric and asymmetric cell division. These results provide insights into the surprising implications of stochastic single-cell dynamics for population growth. Using our results for asymmetric division, we deduce the time to transition from the reproductively quiescent (swarmer) to the replicationcompetent (stalked) stage of the Caulobacter crescentus life cycle. Remarkably, population numbers can spontaneously oscillate with time. We elucidate the physics leading to these population oscillations. For C. crescentus cells, we show that a simple measurement of the population growth rate, for a given growth condition, is sufficient to characterize the condition-specific cellular unit of time and, thus, yields the mean (single-cell) growth and division timescales, fluctuations in cell division times, the cell-age distribution, and the quiescence timescale.

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Stochastic Switching of Cell Fate in Microbes

Cited by 165 publications

References 121 publications

Molecular and cellular bases of adaptation to a changing environment in microorganisms

Molecular and cellular bases of adaptation to a changing environment in microorganisms

Experimental evolution of Bacillus subtilis

Bridging the Timescales of Single-Cell and Population Dynamics

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