Plasmid-encoded phosphatase RapP enhances cell growth in non-domesticated Bacillus subtilis strains.

The trade-off between rapid growth and other important physiological traits (e.g., survival and adaptability) poses a fundamental challenge for microbes to achieve fitness maximization.

Shaping of microbial phenotypes by trade-offs.

Growth rate maximization is an important fitness strategy for microbes. However, the wide distribution of slow-growing oligotrophic microbes in ecosystems suggests that rapid growth is often not favored across ecological environments. In many circumstances, there exist trade-offs between growth and other important traits (e.

Integrated control of bacterial growth and stress response by (p)ppGpp in : A seesaw fashion.

To thrive in nature, bacteria have to reproduce efficiently under favorable conditions and persist during stress. The global strategy that integrates the growth control and stress response remains to be explored. Here, we find that a moderate induction of (p)ppGpp reduces growth rate but significantly enhances the stress tolerance of , resulting from a global resource re-allocation from ribosome synthesis to the synthesis of stress-responsive proteins.

A fitness trade-off between growth and survival governed by Spo0A-mediated proteome allocation constraints in .

Growth and survival are key determinants of bacterial fitness. However, how resource allocation of bacteria could reconcile these two traits to maximize fitness remains poorly understood. Here, we find that the resource allocation strategy of does not lead to growth maximization on various carbon sources.

Stringent response ensures the timely adaptation of bacterial growth to nutrient downshift.

Timely adaptation to nutrient downshift is crucial for bacteria to maintain fitness during feast and famine cycle in the natural niche. However, the molecular mechanism that ensures the timely adaption of bacterial growth to nutrient downshift remains poorly understood. Here, we quantitatively investigated the adaptation of Escherichia coli to various kinds of nutrient downshift.

Recent functional insights into the magic role of (p)ppGpp in growth control.

Rapid growth and survival are two key traits that enable bacterial cells to thrive in their natural habitat. The guanosine tetraphosphate and pentaphosphate [(p)ppGpp], also known as "magic spot", is a key second messenger inside bacterial cells as well as chloroplasts of plants and green algae. (p)ppGpp not only controls various stages of central dogma processes (replication, transcription, ribosome maturation and translation) and central metabolism but also regulates various physiological processes such as pathogenesis, persistence, motility and competence.

Quantitative analysis of asynchronous transcription-translation and transcription processivity in under various growth conditions.

Tight coordination between transcription and translation has long been recognized as the hallmark of gene expression in bacteria. In cells, disruption of the transcription-translation coordination leads to the loss of transcription processivity via triggering Rho-mediated premature transcription termination. Here we quantitatively characterize the transcription and translation kinetics in Gram-positive model bacterium .

Control of ribosome synthesis in bacteria: the important role of rRNA chain elongation rate.

Bacteria growth depends crucially on protein synthesis, which is limited by ribosome synthesis. Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) transcription is the rate-limiting step of ribosome synthesis. It is generally proposed that the transcriptional initiation rate of rRNA operon is the primary factor that controls the rRNA synthesis.

Coupling of Ribosome Synthesis and Translational Capacity with Cell Growth.

Ribosome and protein synthesis lie at the core of cell growth and are major consumers of the cellular budget. Here we review recent progress in the coupling of ribosome synthesis and translational capacity with cell growth in bacteria. We elaborate on the different strategies of bacteria to modulate the protein synthesis rate at fast and slow growth rates.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in China: Results from a cross-sectional study of 441 thousand adults, 2012-2015.

Objectives: Obesity has become a global health public problem. The study aims to examine the latest prevalence of overweight and obesity in China.

Methods: Data came from the China Hypertension Survey (CHS), a nationally representative cross-sectional study among residents aged ≥18 years from October 2012 to December 2015.

Bacterial stress defense: the crucial role of ribosome speed.

In nature, bacteria are constantly adapting to various stressful conditions. Timely activation of stress response programs is crucial for bacteria to smoothly survive under stressful conditions. Stress response, demanding the de novo synthesis of many defense proteins, is generally activated at the transcriptional level by specific regulators.

Prevalence of Abdominal Obesity in China: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study of Nearly Half a Million Participants.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the latest prevalence of abdominal obesity in China based on nationally representative data.

Methods: A stratified, multistage, random sampling method was used to obtain a nationally representative sample of residents aged ≥ 18 years from 31 provinces in mainland China from October 2012 to December 2015. Abdominal obesity was defined as a waist circumference ≥ 90 cm for men and a waist circumference ≥ 85 cm for women.

Disruption of transcription-translation coordination in Escherichia coli leads to premature transcriptional termination.

Tight coordination between transcription and translation is crucial to maintaining the integrity of gene expression in bacteria, yet how bacteria manage to coordinate these two processes remains unclear. Possible direct physical coupling between the RNA polymerase and ribosome has been thoroughly investigated in recent years. Here, we quantitatively characterize the transcriptional kinetics of Escherichia coli under different growth conditions.

Maintenance of translational elongation rate underlies the survival of Escherichia coli during oxidative stress.

To cope with harsh circumstances, bacterial cells must initiate cellular stress response programs, which demands the de novo synthesis of many stress defense proteins. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a universal environmental stressor for both prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells. However, the physiological burden that limits the survival of bacterial cells during oxidative stress remains elusive.

(p)ppGpp: the magic governor of bacterial growth economy.

A fundamental question in microbiology is how bacterial cells manage to coordinate gene expression with cell growth during adapting to various environmental conditions. Although the cellular responses to changing environments have been extensively studied using transcriptomic and proteomic approaches, it remains poorly understood regarding the molecular strategy enabling bacteria to manipulate the global gene expression patterns. The alarmone (p)ppGpp is a key secondary messenger involved in regulating various biochemical and physiological processes of bacterial cells.

Growth suppression by altered (p)ppGpp levels results from non-optimal resource allocation in Escherichia coli.

Understanding how bacteria coordinate gene expression with biomass growth to adapt to various stress conditions remains a grand challenge in biology. Stress response is often associated with dramatic accumulation of cellular guanosine tetra- or penta-phosphate (p)ppGpp (also known as 'magic spot'), which is a key second messenger participating in regulating various biochemical and physiological processes of bacteria. Despite of the extensive studies on the mechanism of gene regulation by (p)ppGpp during stringent response, the connection between (p)ppGpp and bacterial steady-state exponential growth remains elusive.

Sinorhizobium meliloti, a Slow-Growing Bacterium, Exhibits Growth Rate Dependence of Cell Size under Nutrient Limitation.

Bacterial cells need to coordinate the cell cycle with biomass growth to maintain cell size homeostasis. For fast-growing bacterial species like and , it is well-known that cell size exhibits a strong dependence on the growth rate under different nutrient conditions (known as the nutrient growth law). However, cell size changes little with slow growth (doubling time of >90 min) for , posing the interesting question of whether slow-growing bacteria species also observe the nutrient growth law.

High Osmolarity Modulates Bacterial Cell Size through Reducing Initiation Volume in Escherichia coli.

Bacterial cell size is closely associated with biomass growth and cell cycle progression, including chromosome replication and cell division. It is generally proposed that cells tightly control the timing of chromosome replication through maintaining a constant cell volume per origin upon initiating chromosome replication (constant initiation volume) under various growth conditions. Here, we quantitatively characterize the cell size and cell cycle of cells growing exponentially under hyperosmotic stress, which is a common environmental stressor that profoundly affects the bacterial water content.

Central Aortic Systolic Blood Pressure Exhibits Advantages Over Brachial Blood Pressure Measurements in Chronic Kidney Disease Risk Prediction in Women.

Background/aims: To investigate whether the invasively obtained central aortic systolic blood pressure (CSBP) predicts chronic kidney disease (CKD) better than brachial systolic blood pressure (SBP), brachial diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and brachial pulse pressure (PP) in the middle-aged Chinese population.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out across China in 2009-2010 among the subjects aged 35-64 years. CSBP was measured non-invasively by radial artery applanation tonometry B-pro (A-PULSE CASP and corresponding software).

High Salt Cross-Protects from Antibiotic Treatment through Increasing Efflux Pump Expression.

Environmental stresses often co-occur when bacteria encounter antibiotic treatment inside the human body. The cellular response to environmental stressors can alter the global gene expression pattern of bacteria. However, the relationship between the cellular stress response and antibiotic susceptibility remains poorly understood.

Prevalence and risk factors associated with chronic kidney disease in adults living in 3 different altitude regions in the Tibetan Plateau.

Background: Living at high altitude may have undesirable effects on the kidney. We explored the chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence and risk factors among the residents living at different altitude in Tibetan Plateau.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2014 to 2016 in Linzhi (2900 m altitude), Lhasa (3650 m) and Anduo (4700 m).

Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension among Chinese working population: results of a workplace-based study.

We investigated the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension and the related risk factors among Chinese working population. From 2012 to 2013, a total of 37,856 employees aged 18-60 years from 61 workplaces were sampled. Standard questionnaire surveys and physical examinations were undertaken.

Status of Hypertension in China: Results From the China Hypertension Survey, 2012-2015.

Background: Although the prevalence of hypertension (HTN) continues to increase in developing countries, including China, recent data are lacking. A nationwide survey was conducted from October 2012 to December 2015 to assess the prevalence of HTN in China.

Methods: A stratified multistage random sampling method was used to obtain a nationally representative sample of 451 755 residents ≥18 years of age from 31 provinces in mainland China from October 2012 to December 2015.