Physiological and molecular adaptation to starvation and recovery from starvation by the marine Vibrio sp. S14

Marine bacteria have evolved in a nutrient-depleted environment and, as a result of the high degree of micro-to centimeter scale heterogeneity of marine waters [1,2], both with respect to physical discontinuities and substrate availability, it may be suggested that non-differentiating heterotrophic marine bacteria have developed a flexible physiology.Several marine bacteria have a remarkable ~bility to smvive long-term starvation.Insignificant loss in viability fc~r marine vibrios over starvation periods of several months has been reported [3], and the presence ot viable quiescent cells, both free-living and in aggregates has been demonstrated in marine waters and sediments [4][5][6].As shall be shown in this presentation, the adaptation to a starvation state is not that of a gradual passive decrease in metabolic activities, and the physiology of non-growing bacteria still allows the cells to participate in the carbon flow in the environment.We have studied the response to starvation conditions in several marine Vibrio and Pseudomonas strains with the aim of understanding the molecular and physiological responses during the adaptation to energy and/or nutrient deprivation as well as the process of recovery from starvation.