title: Microbial bet-hedging: the power of being different.
abstract: Bet-hedging is an evolutionary theory that describes how risk spreading can increase fitness of a genotype in an unpredictably changing environment. To achieve risk spreading, maladapted phenotypes develop within isogenic populations that may be fit for a future environment. In recent years, various observations of microbial phenotypic heterogeneity have been denoted as bet-hedging strategies, sometimes without sufficient evidence to support this claim. Here, we discuss selected examples of microbial phenotypic heterogeneity that so far do seem consistent with the evolutionary theory concept of bet-hedging.
authors.affiliation: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Department of Molecular Genetics, Nijenborgh 7, 9747AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ard Jan
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Grimbergen
authors.affiliation: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Department of Molecular Genetics, Nijenborgh 7, 9747AG Groningen, The Netherlands; Top Institute Food and Nutrition, P.O. Box 557, 6700AN, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Siebring
authors.affiliation: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Department of Molecular Genetics, Nijenborgh 7, 9747AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Solopova
authors.affiliation: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Department of Molecular Genetics, Nijenborgh 7, 9747AG Groningen, The Netherlands; Top Institute Food and Nutrition, P.O. Box 557, 6700AN, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: o.p.kuipers@rug.nl.
authors.forename: Oscar P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Kuipers
mesh_terms: D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D005075:Biological Evolution; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D005838:Genotype; D008954:Models, Biological; D010641:Phenotype