title: Composition of the outgrowth medium modulates wake-up kinetics and ampicillin sensitivity of stringent and relaxed Escherichia coli.
abstract: The transition of Escherichia coli from the exponential into the stationary phase of growth induces the stringent response, which is mediated by the rapid accumulation of the alarmone nucleotide (p)ppGpp produced by the enzyme RelA. The significance of RelA's functionality during the transition in the opposite direction, i.e. from the stationary phase into new exponential growth, is less well understood. Here we show that the relaxed strain, i.e. lacking the relA gene, displays a relative delay in regrowth during the new exponential growth phase in comparison with the isogenic wild type strain. The severity of the effect is a function of both the carbon source and amino acid composition of the outgrowth media. As a result, the loss of RelA functionality increases E. coli tolerance to the bactericidal antibiotic ampicillin during growth resumption in fresh media in a medium-specific way. Taken together, our data underscore the crucial role of medium composition and growth conditions for studies of the role of individual genes and regulatory networks in bacterial phenotypic tolerance to antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: University of Tartu, Institute of Technology, Nooruse 1, 50411 Tartu, Estonia.|Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, Building 6K, 6L University Hospital Area, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.|Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå University, Building 6K and 6L, University Hospital Area, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Vallo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Varik
authors.affiliation: University of Tartu, Institute of Technology, Nooruse 1, 50411 Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Sofia Raquel Alves
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: University of Tartu, Institute of Technology, Nooruse 1, 50411 Tartu, Estonia.|Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, Building 6K, 6L University Hospital Area, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.|Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå University, Building 6K and 6L, University Hospital Area, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Vasili
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hauryliuk
authors.affiliation: University of Tartu, Institute of Technology, Nooruse 1, 50411 Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Tanel
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tenson
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D000667:Ampicillin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000668:Ampicillin Resistance; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000667:Ampicillin