Regensburg 2019 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 12: Poster II
BP 12.76: Poster
Tuesday, April 2, 2019, 14:00–16:00, Poster B2
Competition between mutant and wild-type E. coli cells during carbon starvation — •Zara Gough1, Felix Fleschhut1, Elena Biselli1, Hamid Seyed-Allaei1, Severin Schink1,2, and Ulrich Gerland1 — 1Technical University of Munich, Physics Department, James-Franck-Str 1, 85748 Garching, Germany — 2Harvard Medical School, Department of Systems Biology, 200 Longwood Ave, Boston 02115 MA, USA
Surviving nutrient limitation is an important part of the microbial life cycle. Recently, it was shown that survival of carbon starved E. coli is quantitatively characterized by two parameters that set the exponential death rate of the population: maintenance rate and recycling yield. Following this exponential death, E. coli enter a long-term phase exhibiting cycles of death and regrowth. Mutant subpopulations have been observed to thrive during regrowth cycles, eventually overtaking wild type cells. We investigate how maintenance rate and recycling yield change in mutants harvested during this phase and how these cells compete with wild type cells in order to dominate the entire population, despite exhibiting traits of poorer fitness, such as slower growth rate and faster death rate, compared to wild type cells grown in identical conditions. Our work will extend our quantitative understanding of bacterial physiology in environments where, due to lack of nutrients, population competition is crucial for survival.