Damage dynamics and the role of chance in the timing of E. coli cell death
Abstract Genetically identical cells in the same stressful condition die at different times. The origin of this stochasticity is unclear; it may arise from different initial conditions that affect the time of demise, or from a stochastic damage accumulation mechanism that erases the initial conditio...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37930-x |
| _version_ | 1827709935070216192 |
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| author | Yifan Yang Omer Karin Avi Mayo Xiaohu Song Peipei Chen Ana L. Santos Ariel B. Lindner Uri Alon |
| author_facet | Yifan Yang Omer Karin Avi Mayo Xiaohu Song Peipei Chen Ana L. Santos Ariel B. Lindner Uri Alon |
| author_sort | Yifan Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Genetically identical cells in the same stressful condition die at different times. The origin of this stochasticity is unclear; it may arise from different initial conditions that affect the time of demise, or from a stochastic damage accumulation mechanism that erases the initial conditions and instead amplifies noise to generate different lifespans. To address this requires measuring damage dynamics in individual cells over the lifespan, but this has rarely been achieved. Here, we used a microfluidic device to measure membrane damage in 635 carbon-starved Escherichia coli cells at high temporal resolution. We find that initial conditions of damage, size or cell-cycle phase do not explain most of the lifespan variation. Instead, the data points to a stochastic mechanism in which noise is amplified by a rising production of damage that saturates its own removal. Surprisingly, the relative variation in damage drops with age: cells become more similar to each other in terms of relative damage, indicating increasing determinism with age. Thus, chance erases initial conditions and then gives way to increasingly deterministic dynamics that dominate the lifespan distribution. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:30:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f4c5c6eb09364973a87d9cc6c5c56541 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:30:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-f4c5c6eb09364973a87d9cc6c5c565412023-11-20T10:03:46ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232023-04-0114111110.1038/s41467-023-37930-xDamage dynamics and the role of chance in the timing of E. coli cell deathYifan Yang0Omer Karin1Avi Mayo2Xiaohu Song3Peipei Chen4Ana L. Santos5Ariel B. Lindner6Uri Alon7Department of molecular Cell biology, Weizmann Institute of ScienceDepartment of molecular Cell biology, Weizmann Institute of ScienceDepartment of molecular Cell biology, Weizmann Institute of ScienceUniversité de Paris - INSERM Unit 1284, Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity (CRI)Université de Paris - INSERM Unit 1284, Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity (CRI)Université de Paris - INSERM Unit 1284, Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity (CRI)Université de Paris - INSERM Unit 1284, Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity (CRI)Department of molecular Cell biology, Weizmann Institute of ScienceAbstract Genetically identical cells in the same stressful condition die at different times. The origin of this stochasticity is unclear; it may arise from different initial conditions that affect the time of demise, or from a stochastic damage accumulation mechanism that erases the initial conditions and instead amplifies noise to generate different lifespans. To address this requires measuring damage dynamics in individual cells over the lifespan, but this has rarely been achieved. Here, we used a microfluidic device to measure membrane damage in 635 carbon-starved Escherichia coli cells at high temporal resolution. We find that initial conditions of damage, size or cell-cycle phase do not explain most of the lifespan variation. Instead, the data points to a stochastic mechanism in which noise is amplified by a rising production of damage that saturates its own removal. Surprisingly, the relative variation in damage drops with age: cells become more similar to each other in terms of relative damage, indicating increasing determinism with age. Thus, chance erases initial conditions and then gives way to increasingly deterministic dynamics that dominate the lifespan distribution.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37930-x |
| spellingShingle | Yifan Yang Omer Karin Avi Mayo Xiaohu Song Peipei Chen Ana L. Santos Ariel B. Lindner Uri Alon Damage dynamics and the role of chance in the timing of E. coli cell death Nature Communications |
| title | Damage dynamics and the role of chance in the timing of E. coli cell death |
| title_full | Damage dynamics and the role of chance in the timing of E. coli cell death |
| title_fullStr | Damage dynamics and the role of chance in the timing of E. coli cell death |
| title_full_unstemmed | Damage dynamics and the role of chance in the timing of E. coli cell death |
| title_short | Damage dynamics and the role of chance in the timing of E. coli cell death |
| title_sort | damage dynamics and the role of chance in the timing of e coli cell death |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37930-x |
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