Cell-to-cell variation and specialization in sugar metabolism in clonal bacterial populations.
While we have good understanding of bacterial metabolism at the population level, we know little about the metabolic behavior of individual cells: do single cells in clonal populations sometimes specialize on different metabolic pathways? Such metabolic specialization could be driven by stochastic g...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2017-12-01
|
| Series: | PLoS Genetics |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5773225?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1819150394268319744 |
|---|---|
| author | Nela Nikolic Frank Schreiber Alma Dal Co Daniel J Kiviet Tobias Bergmiller Sten Littmann Marcel M M Kuypers Martin Ackermann |
| author_facet | Nela Nikolic Frank Schreiber Alma Dal Co Daniel J Kiviet Tobias Bergmiller Sten Littmann Marcel M M Kuypers Martin Ackermann |
| author_sort | Nela Nikolic |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While we have good understanding of bacterial metabolism at the population level, we know little about the metabolic behavior of individual cells: do single cells in clonal populations sometimes specialize on different metabolic pathways? Such metabolic specialization could be driven by stochastic gene expression and could provide individual cells with growth benefits of specialization. We measured the degree of phenotypic specialization in two parallel metabolic pathways, the assimilation of glucose and arabinose. We grew Escherichia coli in chemostats, and used isotope-labeled sugars in combination with nanometer-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry and mathematical modeling to quantify sugar assimilation at the single-cell level. We found large variation in metabolic activities between single cells, both in absolute assimilation and in the degree to which individual cells specialize in the assimilation of different sugars. Analysis of transcriptional reporters indicated that this variation was at least partially based on cell-to-cell variation in gene expression. Metabolic differences between cells in clonal populations could potentially reduce metabolic incompatibilities between different pathways, and increase the rate at which parallel reactions can be performed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T14:16:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e3bf80cf6fab46c7977f843347ab8d04 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1553-7390 1553-7404 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T14:16:48Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Genetics |
| spelling | doaj.art-e3bf80cf6fab46c7977f843347ab8d042022-12-21T18:23:06ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Genetics1553-73901553-74042017-12-011312e100712210.1371/journal.pgen.1007122Cell-to-cell variation and specialization in sugar metabolism in clonal bacterial populations.Nela NikolicFrank SchreiberAlma Dal CoDaniel J KivietTobias BergmillerSten LittmannMarcel M M KuypersMartin AckermannWhile we have good understanding of bacterial metabolism at the population level, we know little about the metabolic behavior of individual cells: do single cells in clonal populations sometimes specialize on different metabolic pathways? Such metabolic specialization could be driven by stochastic gene expression and could provide individual cells with growth benefits of specialization. We measured the degree of phenotypic specialization in two parallel metabolic pathways, the assimilation of glucose and arabinose. We grew Escherichia coli in chemostats, and used isotope-labeled sugars in combination with nanometer-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry and mathematical modeling to quantify sugar assimilation at the single-cell level. We found large variation in metabolic activities between single cells, both in absolute assimilation and in the degree to which individual cells specialize in the assimilation of different sugars. Analysis of transcriptional reporters indicated that this variation was at least partially based on cell-to-cell variation in gene expression. Metabolic differences between cells in clonal populations could potentially reduce metabolic incompatibilities between different pathways, and increase the rate at which parallel reactions can be performed.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5773225?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Nela Nikolic Frank Schreiber Alma Dal Co Daniel J Kiviet Tobias Bergmiller Sten Littmann Marcel M M Kuypers Martin Ackermann Cell-to-cell variation and specialization in sugar metabolism in clonal bacterial populations. PLoS Genetics |
| title | Cell-to-cell variation and specialization in sugar metabolism in clonal bacterial populations. |
| title_full | Cell-to-cell variation and specialization in sugar metabolism in clonal bacterial populations. |
| title_fullStr | Cell-to-cell variation and specialization in sugar metabolism in clonal bacterial populations. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cell-to-cell variation and specialization in sugar metabolism in clonal bacterial populations. |
| title_short | Cell-to-cell variation and specialization in sugar metabolism in clonal bacterial populations. |
| title_sort | cell to cell variation and specialization in sugar metabolism in clonal bacterial populations |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5773225?pdf=render |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nelanikolic celltocellvariationandspecializationinsugarmetabolisminclonalbacterialpopulations AT frankschreiber celltocellvariationandspecializationinsugarmetabolisminclonalbacterialpopulations AT almadalco celltocellvariationandspecializationinsugarmetabolisminclonalbacterialpopulations AT danieljkiviet celltocellvariationandspecializationinsugarmetabolisminclonalbacterialpopulations AT tobiasbergmiller celltocellvariationandspecializationinsugarmetabolisminclonalbacterialpopulations AT stenlittmann celltocellvariationandspecializationinsugarmetabolisminclonalbacterialpopulations AT marcelmmkuypers celltocellvariationandspecializationinsugarmetabolisminclonalbacterialpopulations AT martinackermann celltocellvariationandspecializationinsugarmetabolisminclonalbacterialpopulations |