Metabolic Interactions Between Dynamic Bacterial Subpopulations Adam Z Rosenthal, Yutao Qi, Sahand Hormoz, Jin Park, Sophia Hsin-Jung Li, Michael ElowitzVersion reviewed: V1. October 25, 2017. bioRxiv 208686; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/208686Note: This review incorporates input from attendees to the ITQB Preprint Journal Club on November 9, 2017.Overview:Rosenthal et al. demonstrate that stochastic changes between metabolic gene expression states underlie the population-averaged progression through acetate production to acetoin detoxification during exponential growth of B. subtilis. They show that the probabilities of cells being in the slow-growing, acetate-producing (sucC+) and acetoin-producing (alsS+) states depend upon competence regulators (comK) as well as environmental acetate concentration. The work combines population averaged experiments with single-cell fluorescence snapshot and timelapse microscopy experiments to conclusively prove the claims in the abstract. The work was very interesting for members of our journal club coming from several different fields. We were particularly interested in the the implications of the final gel-pad timelapse experiment and its discussion in the main text—the possibility that competence, toxic-product secretion, and subsequent detoxification could be coupled to give B. subtilis an advantage in a complex environment will be a great problem to investigate in the future.
