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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2007, p. 4797-4804, Vol. 73, No. 15
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00404-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Quantitative Analysis of Population Heterogeneity of the Adaptive Salt Stress Response and Growth Capacity of Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579{triangledown}

Heidy M. W. den Besten,1,2 Colin J. Ingham,1,3 Johan E. T. van Hylckama Vlieg,1,4 Marke M. Beerthuyzen,1,4 Marcel H. Zwietering,2 and Tjakko Abee1,2*

TI Food and Nutrition, P.O. Box 557, 6700 AN Wageningen, The Netherlands,1 Wageningen University and Research Centre, Laboratory of Food Microbiology, P.O. Box 8129, 6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands,2 Wageningen University and Research Centre, Laboratory of Microbiology, P.O. Box 8033, 6700 EJ Wageningen, The Netherlands,3 NIZO food research, P.O. Box 20, 6710 BA Ede, The Netherlands4

Received 21 February 2007/ Accepted 22 May 2007

Bacterial populations can display heterogeneity with respect to both the adaptive stress response and growth capacity of individual cells. The growth dynamics of Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 during mild and severe salt stress exposure were investigated for the population as a whole in liquid culture. To quantitatively assess the population heterogeneity of the stress response and growth capacity at a single-cell level, a direct imaging method was applied to monitor cells from the initial inoculum to the microcolony stage. Highly porous Anopore strips were used as a support for the culturing and imaging of microcolonies at different time points. The growth kinetics of cells grown in liquid culture were comparable to those of microcolonies grown upon Anopore strips, even in the presence of mild and severe salt stress. Exposure to mild salt stress resulted in growth that was characterized by a remarkably low variability of microcolony sizes, and the distributions of the log10-transformed microcolony areas could be fitted by the normal distribution. Under severe salt stress conditions, the microcolony sizes were highly heterogeneous, and this was apparently caused by the presence of both a nongrowing and growing population. After discriminating these two subpopulations, it was shown that the variability of microcolony sizes of the growing population was comparable to that of non-salt-stressed and mildly salt-stressed populations. Quantification of population heterogeneity during stress exposure may contribute to an optimized application of preservation factors for controlling growth of spoilage and pathogenic bacteria to ensure the quality and safety of minimally processed foods.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Wageningen University and Research Centre, Laboratory of Food Microbiology, P.O. Box 8129, 6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-317-484981. Fax: 31-317-484978. E-mail: tjakko.abee{at}wur.nl

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 1 June 2007.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2007, p. 4797-4804, Vol. 73, No. 15
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00404-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Ingham, C. J., Beerthuyzen, M., van Hylckama Vlieg, J. (2008). Population Heterogeneity of Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1 Microcolonies in Response to and Recovery from Acid Stress. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 7750-7758 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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