Basal level of ppGpp coordinates Escherichia coli cell heterogeneity and ampicillin resistance and persistence

October 25, 2023

The universal stringent response alarmone ppGpp (guanosine penta and tetra phosphates) plays a crucial role in various aspects of fundamental cell physiology (e.g., cell growth rate, cell size) and thus bacterial tolerance to and survival of external stresses, including antibiotics. In tihs study, we discuss the fundamental role of basal level of ppGpp in regulating cell homogeneity and ampicillin persistence.

Fatal attraction in glycolysis: how Saccharomyces cerevisiae manages sudden transitions to high glucose

February 20, 2014

This article comments on work published by van Heerden et al. (Science, 2014), which demonstrates that the startup of glycolysis exhibits two dynamic fates: a proper, functional, steady state or the imbalanced state described above. Both states are stable, attracting states, and the probability distribution of initial states determines the fate of a yeast cell exposed to glucose.