Heat-Induced Fate Determination of Single E.coli Bacterium

Bacteria are an ancient and vital component of Earth’s environment spanning a breadth of biological niches, from the bottom of the ocean, to arctic glaciers, and within the human gut. Temperature influences bacteria growth, virulence, and ecological dispersion with pending applications to industrial processes in bio-manufacturing and therapeutic development. Despite the prevalence of bacteria in the world, the adaptability of bacteria growth when shifted from optimal growth temperatures to hot temperatures outside of optimal limits are not well characterized at the single-cell level. In this study, the growth of single Escherichia coli cells is analyzed within mother machine microfluidic devices during transitions from an optimal growth temperature of 37°C to hotter temperatures up to 48°C. As temperature increases outside of E.coli’s optimal limits, E.coli growth rate decreases and reveals distinct nutrient-dependent transitions to either death or to a recoverable growth-arrest. The heat-induced transition from growth to death or to growth-arrest is probed genetically and pharmacologically at the single-cell level within mother machine devices. Overall, the study results reveal E.coli growth adaptation at the single-cell level outside of optimal growth temperatures as well as introduce a recoverable heat-induced persistor-like state for E.coli.