Aging of a Bacterial Colony Enforces the Evolvement of Nondifferentiating Mutants

ABSTRACT Bacteria in nature are known to survive for long periods under restricting conditions, mainly by reducing their growth rate and metabolic activity. Here, we uncover a novel strategy utilized by bacterial cells to resist aging by propagating rather than halting division. Bacterial aging was...

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Autores principales:	Rachel Hashuel, Sigal Ben-Yehuda
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2019
Materias:	Bacillus subtilis colony long-term stationary phase sporulation spo0A Microbiology QR1-502
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9de18242ce864594aef92dbbff223fb6
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9de18242ce864594aef92dbbff223fb62021-11-15T15:59:41ZAging of a Bacterial Colony Enforces the Evolvement of Nondifferentiating Mutants10.1128/mBio.01414-192150-7511https://doaj.org/article/9de18242ce864594aef92dbbff223fb62019-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.01414-19https://doaj.org/toc/2150-7511ABSTRACT Bacteria in nature are known to survive for long periods under restricting conditions, mainly by reducing their growth rate and metabolic activity. Here, we uncover a novel strategy utilized by bacterial cells to resist aging by propagating rather than halting division. Bacterial aging was monitored by inspecting colonies of the Gram-positive soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis, which is capable of differentiating into various cell types under nutrient exhaustion. We revealed that after days of incubation, rejuvenating subpopulations, arrayed over the mother colony, emerged. These subpopulations were found to harbor mutations in a variety of genes, restricting the ability of the cells to differentiate. Surprisingly, even mutations that are not classically designated to developmental pathways, concluded in differentiation deficiency, indicating that multiple paths can reach this same outcome. We provide evidence that the evolved mutants continue to divide under conditions that favor entry into quiescence, hence becoming abundant within the aging population. The occurrence of such nondifferentiating mutants could impact bacterial population dynamics in natural niches. IMPORTANCE Until now, bacterial cells facing nutrient deprivation were shown to enter dormancy as a strategy to survive prolonged stress, with the most established examples being sporulation, stationary phase, and persistence. Here, we uncovered an opposing strategy for long-term bacterial survival, in which mutant subpopulations cope with a challenging niche by proliferating rather than by stalling division. We show that this feature stems from mutations in genes disturbing the capability of the cells to differentiate into a quiescent state, enabling them to divide under restrictive conditions. Our study challenges the dogma of bacterial aging by highlighting an additional survival strategy resembling that of cancerous cells in animal organs.Rachel HashuelSigal Ben-YehudaAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleBacillus subtiliscolonylong-term stationary phasesporulationspo0AMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmBio, Vol 10, Iss 5 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Bacillus subtilis colony long-term stationary phase sporulation spo0A Microbiology QR1-502
spellingShingle	Bacillus subtilis colony long-term stationary phase sporulation spo0A Microbiology QR1-502 Rachel Hashuel Sigal Ben-Yehuda Aging of a Bacterial Colony Enforces the Evolvement of Nondifferentiating Mutants
description	ABSTRACT Bacteria in nature are known to survive for long periods under restricting conditions, mainly by reducing their growth rate and metabolic activity. Here, we uncover a novel strategy utilized by bacterial cells to resist aging by propagating rather than halting division. Bacterial aging was monitored by inspecting colonies of the Gram-positive soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis, which is capable of differentiating into various cell types under nutrient exhaustion. We revealed that after days of incubation, rejuvenating subpopulations, arrayed over the mother colony, emerged. These subpopulations were found to harbor mutations in a variety of genes, restricting the ability of the cells to differentiate. Surprisingly, even mutations that are not classically designated to developmental pathways, concluded in differentiation deficiency, indicating that multiple paths can reach this same outcome. We provide evidence that the evolved mutants continue to divide under conditions that favor entry into quiescence, hence becoming abundant within the aging population. The occurrence of such nondifferentiating mutants could impact bacterial population dynamics in natural niches. IMPORTANCE Until now, bacterial cells facing nutrient deprivation were shown to enter dormancy as a strategy to survive prolonged stress, with the most established examples being sporulation, stationary phase, and persistence. Here, we uncovered an opposing strategy for long-term bacterial survival, in which mutant subpopulations cope with a challenging niche by proliferating rather than by stalling division. We show that this feature stems from mutations in genes disturbing the capability of the cells to differentiate into a quiescent state, enabling them to divide under restrictive conditions. Our study challenges the dogma of bacterial aging by highlighting an additional survival strategy resembling that of cancerous cells in animal organs.
format	article
author	Rachel Hashuel Sigal Ben-Yehuda
author_facet	Rachel Hashuel Sigal Ben-Yehuda
author_sort	Rachel Hashuel
title	Aging of a Bacterial Colony Enforces the Evolvement of Nondifferentiating Mutants
title_short	Aging of a Bacterial Colony Enforces the Evolvement of Nondifferentiating Mutants
title_full	Aging of a Bacterial Colony Enforces the Evolvement of Nondifferentiating Mutants
title_fullStr	Aging of a Bacterial Colony Enforces the Evolvement of Nondifferentiating Mutants
title_full_unstemmed	Aging of a Bacterial Colony Enforces the Evolvement of Nondifferentiating Mutants
title_sort	aging of a bacterial colony enforces the evolvement of nondifferentiating mutants
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/9de18242ce864594aef92dbbff223fb6
work_keys_str_mv	AT rachelhashuel agingofabacterialcolonyenforcestheevolvementofnondifferentiatingmutants AT sigalbenyehuda agingofabacterialcolonyenforcestheevolvementofnondifferentiatingmutants
_version_	1718426984714862592

Aging of a Bacterial Colony Enforces the Evolvement of Nondifferentiating Mutants

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