Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Factors Influencing Microbial Growth: Osmolarity01:28

Factors Influencing Microbial Growth: Osmolarity

535
Osmolarity is the measure of solute concentration in a solution. It plays a critical role in determining water availability for organisms. Water moves across semipermeable membranes through osmosis, flowing from regions of lower solute concentration (more dilute) to regions of higher solute concentration (more concentrated).In high-solute environments, microbial cells lose water, leading to dehydration and inhibited growth. The extent to which water is available to microbes in such environments...
535
Factors Influencing Microbial Growth: Temperature01:27

Factors Influencing Microbial Growth: Temperature

876
Microorganisms display remarkable adaptations, enabling them to thrive in diverse ecological niches across a wide range of temperatures. Temperature profoundly influences microbial growth by affecting enzymatic activity, membrane fluidity, and other cellular processes.Each microorganism operates within a specific temperature range defined by three cardinal points: minimum, optimum, and maximum. Below the minimum temperature, membranes lose fluidity, halting transport processes. Above the...
876
Diversity of Archaea IV01:29

Diversity of Archaea IV

313
Hyperthermophilic archaea are a group of extremophiles thriving at temperatures above 80°C, often in hydrothermal vents and volcanic soils where conditions surpass the boiling point of water. At such temperatures, proteins, membranes, and DNA in most organisms degrade, but hyperthermophiles have evolved remarkable adaptations to maintain stability and function.Unique Cellular FeaturesHyperthermophilic membranes are composed of a monolayer of biphytanyl tetraether lipids, which resist...
313
Hyperthermophilic Bacteria01:21

Hyperthermophilic Bacteria

342
Domain Bacteria includes some unique hyperthermophilic species. They exhibit remarkable adaptations that enable survival in extreme environments.Thermotoga species are rod-shaped, gram-negative, non-sporulating hyperthermophiles that form a sheath-like envelope called a toga. They ferment sugars or starch, producing lactate, acetate, CO₂, and H₂, and can also grow via anaerobic respiration using H₂ and ferric iron. Found in hot springs and hydrothermal vents, over 20% of their...
342
Stringent Response in E. coli01:23

Stringent Response in E. coli

199
Bacterial growth is closely tied to nutrient availability, with cells proliferating exponentially under favorable conditions and entering a stationary phase when resources become scarce. This transition is mediated by a regulatory mechanism known as the stringent response, which allows bacteria to adapt to nutrient deprivation by modulating gene expression and metabolic activity.During nutrient scarcity, intracellular amino acid levels decline. It results in the accumulation of uncharged tRNAs...
199
Transduction01:16

Transduction

898
Among the three main modes of HGT—transformation, conjugation, and transduction—transduction is unique in that it is mediated by bacteriophages, or bacterial viruses.Transduction occurs in two ways. Generalized transduction occurs during the lytic cycle of a bacteriophage infection. In this process, bacteriophages infect bacterial cells, replicate within them, and ultimately cause cell lysis, releasing newly assembled virions. Occasionally, random fragments of the bacterial genome...
898

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Multi-region sampling of the human small intestine using an ingestible device.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences·2026
Same author

Gender Disparities in Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis: Evaluating Detection Bias and Clinical Implications.

The American surgeon·2026
Same author

Mezigdomide, carfilzomib, and dexamethasone versus carfilzomib and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (SUCCESSOR-2): a phase 3, open-label, randomised controlled trial.

Lancet (London, England)·2026
Same author

Excitatory Dysfunction and Phenotypic Rescue in a Human Neuronal Model of <i>SCN2A</i>-Related Disorders.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Path-dependent recovery of the gut microbiome after antibiotics emerges from coupled ecological and evolutionary dynamics.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

CUPID-seq enables highly multiplexed amplicon sequencing via combinatorial in-line dual indexing.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same journal

YdbL directly modulates YdbH-YnbE bridge formation to maintain <i>Escherichia coli</i> outer membrane homeostasis.

mBio·2026
Same journal

Bridging two hosts: how intracellular environments shape flaviviral infection.

mBio·2026
Same journal

Post-translational negative feedback loops are sufficient to coordinate synthesis of the gram-negative envelope during steady-state growth.

mBio·2026
Same journal

mGem: A tale as old as blood-do tick-borne pathogens exploit arthropod antioxidant defenses?

mBio·2026
Same journal

mGem: Subcellular compartments in bacterial pathogens and their role during infection.

mBio·2026
Same journal

mGem: A perfect storm in the era of global warming-the convergence between thermotolerant fungi and altered immunity.

mBio·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 13, 2025

Author Spotlight: Understanding Microbe Adaptation Using Innovative Techniques for Exploring Thermophilic Evolution
08:11

Author Spotlight: Understanding Microbe Adaptation Using Innovative Techniques for Exploring Thermophilic Evolution

Published on: June 14, 2024

1.2K

Bacterial Evolution in High-Osmolarity Environments.

Spencer Cesar1, Maya Anjur-Dietrich2, Brian Yu3

  • 1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.

Mbio
|August 6, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Bacteria adapt to high-osmolarity environments through osmolyte-dependent strategies. Evolution in sorbitol generally improved high-osmolarity growth, while proline selection enhanced proline utilization, revealing trade-offs in bacterial adaptation.

Keywords:
cell morphologycell shapeosmolytesosmotic adaptationprolinesorbitolstress responsesucrose

More Related Videos

Quantification of Plasmid-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in an Experimental Evolution Approach
12:32

Quantification of Plasmid-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in an Experimental Evolution Approach

Published on: December 14, 2019

14.5K
Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
15:00

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Published on: August 18, 2023

4.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 13, 2025

Author Spotlight: Understanding Microbe Adaptation Using Innovative Techniques for Exploring Thermophilic Evolution
08:11

Author Spotlight: Understanding Microbe Adaptation Using Innovative Techniques for Exploring Thermophilic Evolution

Published on: June 14, 2024

1.2K
Quantification of Plasmid-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in an Experimental Evolution Approach
12:32

Quantification of Plasmid-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in an Experimental Evolution Approach

Published on: December 14, 2019

14.5K
Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
15:00

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Published on: August 18, 2023

4.1K

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Bacterial Physiology

Background:

  • Bacteria require higher internal osmolarity for water uptake, making high-osmolarity environments stressful.
  • Adaptation to osmotic stress is crucial for bacterial survival and proliferation in diverse environments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary mechanisms of bacterial adaptation to high-osmolarity environments.
  • To determine how different osmolytes influence adaptive strategies in *Escherichia coli*.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental evolution of *Escherichia coli* in media with varying osmolytes (sorbitol, proline) and concentrations for 250 generations.
  • Genomic sequencing of evolved populations to identify adaptive mutations.
  • Phenotypic analysis of evolved isolates, including growth rate and cell volume measurements.

Main Results:

  • Adaptation was osmolyte-dependent: sorbitol selection led to general high-osmolarity fitness, while proline selection enhanced proline utilization.
  • Mutations in proline-evolved strains facilitated proline metabolism; sorbitol-evolved strains acquired mutations conferring general high-osmolarity growth at the expense of low-osmolarity growth.
  • High osmolarity increased cell volume and altered growth rate, showing an orthogonal relationship to the classical Growth Law.

Conclusions:

  • Bacterial adaptation to high osmolarity involves distinct strategies, either general stress tolerance or specific metabolic enhancement.
  • Experimental evolution is a powerful tool for dissecting complex adaptive responses to environmental stressors.
  • Observed trade-offs highlight the dynamic nature of bacterial evolution under selective pressures.