Functional roles of microbial cell-to-cell heterogeneity and emerging technologies for analysis and control.

Functional roles of microbial cell-to-cell heterogeneity and emerging technologies for analysis and control. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2020 Sep 09;57:87-94 Authors: Sampaio NMV, Dunlop MJ Abstract Clonal cell populations often display significant cell-to-cell phenotypic heterogeneity, even when maintained under constant external conditions. This variability can result from the inherently stochastic nature of transcription and translation processes, which leads to varying numbers of transcripts and proteins per cell. Here, we showcase studies that reveal links between stochastic cellular events and biological functions in isogenic microbial populations. Then, we highlight emerging tools from engineering, computation, and synthetic and molecular biology that enable precise measurement, control, and analysis of gene expression noise in microorganisms. The capabilities offered by this sophisticated toolbox will shape future directions in the field and generate insight into the behavior of living systems at the single-cell level. PMID: 32919307 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Current Opinion in Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Curr Opin Microbiol Source Type: research