Effect of starvation on survival of three bacterial isolates from an arctic soil.
Three isolates, a Pseudomonas sp., a Bacillus sp. and an Arthrobacter sp., which had been isolated from a meadow soil at Devon Island, Canada, were subjected to starvation under varying conditions. The viabilities of the three isolates during starvation for 30 days in a carbon-free medium was assessed after the organisms had been grown continuously at varying rates in carbon- and nitrogen-limited media at 5 and 15 degrees C. Pseudomonas M216 was the most resistant to starvation stress, Bacillus M153 the least, and Arthrobacter M51 was intermediate in its response. Cells grown and starved at 5 degrees C survived longer than those at 15 degrees C. Carbon-limited Bacillus and Arthrobacter cells grown at high rates prior to starvation survived longer than those grown slowly, while in nitrogen-limited Arthrobacter the reverse was observed. The pattern of endogenous metabolism of the three isolates during starvation at 15 degrees C for 10 days was similar to that observed in other organisms. Levels of endogenous substrates such as carbohydrate and protein showed a rapid decrease in the initial 20 h of starvation, followed by a gradual decline over the remainder of the starvation period. The rates of endogenous metabolism of the isolates were positively correlated with their survival rates during starvation.
D001110:Arctic Regions; D001173:Arthrobacter / Q000254:growth & development*; D001407:Bacillus / Q000254:growth & development*; D002170:Canada; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D003470:Culture Media; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000254:growth & development*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013696:Temperature
D003470:Culture Media; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen