title: Understanding the physiology of Lactobacillus plantarum at zero growth.
abstract: Situations of extremely low substrate availability, resulting in slow growth, are common in natural environments. To mimic these conditions, Lactobacillus plantarum was grown in a carbon-limited retentostat with complete biomass retention. The physiology of extremely slow-growing L. plantarum--as studied by genome-scale modeling and transcriptomics--was fundamentally different from that of stationary-phase cells. Stress resistance mechanisms were not massively induced during transition to extremely slow growth. The energy-generating metabolism was remarkably stable and remained largely based on the conversion of glucose to lactate. The combination of metabolic and transcriptomic analyses revealed behaviors involved in interactions with the environment, more particularly with plants: production of plant hormones or precursors thereof, and preparedness for the utilization of plant-derived substrates. Accordingly, the production of compounds interfering with plant root development was demonstrated in slow-growing L. plantarum. Thus, conditions of slow growth and limited substrate availability seem to trigger a plant environment-like response, even in the absence of plant-derived material, suggesting that this might constitute an intrinsic behavior in L. plantarum.
authors.affiliation: Kluyver Centre for Genomics of Industrial Fermentations, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Goffin
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van de Bunt
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giovane
authors.forename: Johan H J
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Leveau
authors.forename: Sachie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Höppener-Ogawa
authors.forename: Bas
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Teusink
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hugenholtz
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005947:Glucose / Q000737:chemistry; D006728:Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D007656:Ketoglutaric Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D048191:Lactiplantibacillus plantarum / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D006728:Hormones; D007656:Ketoglutaric Acids; D019344:Lactic Acid; D002244:Carbon; D005947:Glucose