A tale of two phenotypes: Cell fates and their reversibility of E. coli under high pressure

Center for studies in physics and biology  

Rockefeller University

Extremophiles--organisms growing in harsh conditions, such as extremes of pressure and temperature, constitute a large diversity of microbial population on earth. Extremophiles have evolved to adapt to their growth habitat and pose challenging questions as to their adaptive mechanisms. To understand the adaptation of extremophiles, it is important to understand the effects of extreme conditions on organisms that grow at normal conditions. In this talk, I will describe the high pressure induced changes in growth and morphological cell fates and their reversibility of Escherichia coli, a mesophilic bacterium.