IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v12y2021i1d10.1038_s41467-021-22092-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Precise regulation of the relative rates of surface area and volume synthesis in bacterial cells growing in dynamic environments

Author

Listed:
  • Handuo Shi

    (Stanford University)

  • Yan Hu

    (Stanford University)

  • Pascal D. Odermatt

    (Stanford University
    University of California, San Francisco)

  • Carlos G. Gonzalez

    (Stanford University School of Medicine)

  • Lichao Zhang

    (Chan Zuckerberg Biohub)

  • Joshua E. Elias

    (Chan Zuckerberg Biohub)

  • Fred Chang

    (University of California, San Francisco)

  • Kerwyn Casey Huang

    (Stanford University
    Chan Zuckerberg Biohub
    Stanford University School of Medicine)

Abstract

The steady-state size of bacterial cells correlates with nutrient-determined growth rate. Here, we explore how rod-shaped bacterial cells regulate their morphology during rapid environmental changes. We quantify cellular dimensions throughout passage cycles of stationary-phase cells diluted into fresh medium and grown back to saturation. We find that cells exhibit characteristic dynamics in surface area to volume ratio (SA/V), which are conserved across genetic and chemical perturbations as well as across species and growth temperatures. A mathematical model with a single fitting parameter (the time delay between surface and volume synthesis) is quantitatively consistent with our SA/V experimental observations. The model supports that this time delay is due to differential expression of volume and surface-related genes, and that the first division after dilution occurs at a tightly controlled SA/V. Our minimal model thus provides insight into the connections between bacterial growth rate and cell shape in dynamic environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Handuo Shi & Yan Hu & Pascal D. Odermatt & Carlos G. Gonzalez & Lichao Zhang & Joshua E. Elias & Fred Chang & Kerwyn Casey Huang, 2021. "Precise regulation of the relative rates of surface area and volume synthesis in bacterial cells growing in dynamic environments," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-22092-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22092-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22092-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-22092-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-22092-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.