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Following Cell-fate in E. coli After Infection by Phage Lambda
06:10

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Published on: October 14, 2011

Determination of cell fate selection during phage lambda infection.

François St-Pierre1, Drew Endy

  • 1Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|December 23, 2008
PubMed
Summary

Bacteriophage lambda infection outcomes in Escherichia coli are not solely due to molecular noise. Pre-infection physical cell differences, like volume, significantly influence whether cells lyse or become lysogens.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Bacteriophage lambda infection in Escherichia coli leads to diverse cell fates, including lysis or lysogeny.
  • A biophysical model suggested molecular noise dictates these cell fate decisions, influencing cellular behavior and population heterogeneity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To experimentally investigate the role of pre-existing cellular differences in bacteriophage lambda infection outcomes.
  • To challenge the prevailing model attributing cell fate solely to intrinsic molecular noise.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized cell fractioning, plating, and single-cell fluorescent microscopy.
  • Quantified cell volume and correlated it with lambda infection fate.

Main Results:

  • Found that physical differences among Escherichia coli cells before infection bias lambda developmental outcomes.
  • Demonstrated that increased cell volume significantly decreases the probability of lysogeny, with a 2-fold increase in volume reducing lysogeny probability 4- to 5-fold.

Conclusions:

  • Pre-infection cellular variation, specifically cell volume, is a critical determinant of bacteriophage lambda infection fate.
  • Suggests that other seemingly stochastic cell fate decisions may also be influenced by pre-existing cellular heterogeneity.