Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
MICROBIOLOGY: Cannibals Defy Starvation and Avoid Sporulation
Hanna Engelberg-Kulka and Ronen Hazan
When faced with declining nutrients, many bacteria enter sporulation so that their spores can be distributed to other areas that may be nutrient-rich. In their Perspective, Engelberg-Kulka and Hazan discuss a fascinating new study (González-Pastor et al.) revealing that in Bacillus subtilis a subpopulation of bacterial cells avoid sporulation by inducing some of their comrades to die and then feeding on the released nutrients.
The authors are in the Department of Molecular Biology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. E-mail: hanita{at}cc.huji.ac.il
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
Toxin-Antitoxin Genes of the Gram-Positive Pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae: So Few and Yet So Many.
W. T. Chan, I. Moreno-Cordoba, C. C. Yeo, and M. Espinosa (2012)
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
76, 773-791
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
2010 Informal Nutrition Symposium * Remodeling the intestinal ecosystem toward better performance and intestinal health.
A. A. Pedroso, J. Maurer, Y. Cheng, and M. D. Lee (2012)
J. Appl. Poult. Res.
21, 432-443
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Muropeptide Rescue in Bacillus subtilis Involves Sequential Hydrolysis by {beta}-N-Acetylglucosaminidase and N-Acetylmuramyl-L-Alanine Amidase.
S. Litzinger, A. Duckworth, K. Nitzsche, C. Risinger, V. Wittmann, and C. Mayer (2010)
J. Bacteriol.
192, 3132-3143
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
mazEF: a chromosomal toxin-antitoxin module that triggers programmed cell death in bacteria.
H. Engelberg-Kulka, R. Hazan, and S. Amitai (2005)
J. Cell Sci.
118, 4327-4332
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
From The Cover: Competence-programmed predation of noncompetent cells in the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae: Genetic requirements.
S. Guiral, T. J. Mitchell, B. Martin, and J.-P. Claverys (2005)
PNAS
102, 8710-8715
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
RECOMBINANT LARVICIDAL BACTERIA WITH MARKEDLY IMPROVED EFFICACY AGAINST CULEX VECTORS OF WEST NILE VIRUS.
H.-W. PARK, D. K. BIDESHI, M. C. WIRTH, J. J. JOHNSON, W. E. WALTON, and B. A. FEDERICI (2005)
Am J Trop Med Hyg
72, 732-738
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
