Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1995 Jul;61(7):2583–2588. doi: 10.1128/aem.61.7.2583-2588.1995

Decrease in culturability of Vibrio cholerae caused by glucose.

T Shiba 1, R T Hill 1, W L Straube 1, R R Colwell 1
PMCID: PMC167530  PMID: 7618870

Abstract

The culturability of Vibrio cholerae O1 serotype Inaba strain 569B was decreased by the addition of glucose to cell suspensions in starvation media. A similar effect was observed with sucrose, maltose, and fructose. We term this inhibitory effect glucose shock. It was not observed with arabinose or xylose or with carboxylates, such as acetate and pyruvate. No acidification of the medium occurred in the presence of these carbohydrates. Glucose shock was prevented by the addition of nitrogen or phosphorus sources. In the presence of phosphate, the bacterium produced formic acid from glucose. The phenomenon of glucose shock was also observed in V. cholerae O1 serotype Inaba strain RIMD 2203082 but not in strain RIMD 2203088 (O1 Inaba), IID 936 (O1 Ogawa), or RIMD 2214034 (non-O1). The culturability of Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, and Listonella anguillarum did not decrease in starvation media with added glucose. Hence, the phenomenon should have ecological significance in determining the distribution of bacteria in marine ecosystems in situations where carbohydrates are abundant, but nitrogen and phosphorus are limiting.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (197.5 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Amy P. S., Pauling C., Morita R. Y. Starvation-survival processes of a marine Vibrio. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1983 Mar;45(3):1041–1048. doi: 10.1128/aem.45.3.1041-1048.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bag J. Diauxic growth of Vibrio cholerae: Effect of glucose on the transport & phosphoenolpyravate dependent phosphorylation of galactose & fructose. Indian J Biochem Biophys. 1974 Jun;11(2):148–151. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bag J. Studies on a phosphoenol pyruvate hexose phosphotransferase system in Vibrio cholerae. Indian J Biochem Biophys. 1973 Dec;10(4):257–260. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Baker R. M., Singleton F. L., Hood M. A. Effects of nutrient deprivation on Vibrio cholerae. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1983 Oct;46(4):930–940. doi: 10.1128/aem.46.4.930-940.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Calcott P. H., Montague W., Postgate J. R. The levels of cyclic AMP during substrate-accelerated death. J Gen Microbiol. 1972 Nov;73(1):197–200. doi: 10.1099/00221287-73-1-197. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Colwell R. R., Seidler R. J., Kaper J., Joseph S. W., Garges S., Lockman H., Maneval D., Bradford H., Roberts N., Remmers E. Occurrence of Vibrio cholerae serotype O1 in Maryland and Louisiana estuaries. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1981 Feb;41(2):555–558. doi: 10.1128/aem.41.2.555-558.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hood M. A., Guckert J. B., White D. C., Deck F. Effect of nutrient deprivation on lipid, carbohydrate, DNA, RNA, and protein levels in Vibrio cholerae. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1986 Oct;52(4):788–793. doi: 10.1128/aem.52.4.788-793.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Horan N. J., Midgley M., Dawes E. A. Effect of starvation on transport, membrane potential and survival of Staphylococcus epidermidis under anaerobic conditions. J Gen Microbiol. 1981 Dec;127(2):223–230. doi: 10.1099/00221287-127-2-223. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Minami A., Hashimoto S., Abe H., Arita M., Taniguchi T., Honda T., Miwatani T., Nishibuchi M. Cholera enterotoxin production in Vibrio cholerae O1 strains isolated from the environment and from humans in Japan. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1991 Aug;57(8):2152–2157. doi: 10.1128/aem.57.8.2152-2157.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Moyer C. L., Morita R. Y. Effect of growth rate and starvation-survival on the viability and stability of a psychrophilic marine bacterium. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 May;55(5):1122–1127. doi: 10.1128/aem.55.5.1122-1127.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Nyström T., Flärdh K., Kjelleberg S. Responses to multiple-nutrient starvation in marine Vibrio sp. strain CCUG 15956. J Bacteriol. 1990 Dec;172(12):7085–7097. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.12.7085-7097.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. POSTGATE J. R., HUNTER J. R. Acceleration of bacterial death by grown substrates. Nature. 1963 Apr 20;198:273–273. doi: 10.1038/198273a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Pirt S. J. The maintenance energy of bacteria in growing cultures. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1965 Oct 12;163(991):224–231. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1965.0069. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Singleton F. L., Attwell R. W., Jangi M. S., Colwell R. R. Influence of salinity and organic nutrient concentration on survival and growth of Vibrio cholerae in aquatic microcosms. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1982 May;43(5):1080–1085. doi: 10.1128/aem.43.5.1080-1085.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Smigielski A. J., Wallace B. J., Abrahams S., Marshall K. C. Effects of respiratory activity on starvation survival of marine vibrios. Arch Microbiol. 1990;153(2):175–180. doi: 10.1007/BF00247817. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Snoep J. L., de Graef M. R., Teixeira de Mattos M. J., Neijssel O. M. Pyruvate catabolism during transient state conditions in chemostat cultures of Enterococcus faecalis NCTC 775: importance of internal pyruvate concentrations and NADH/NAD+ ratios. J Gen Microbiol. 1992 Oct;138(10):2015–2020. doi: 10.1099/00221287-138-10-2015. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Thomas T. D., Batt R. D. Degradation of cell constituents by starved Streptococcus lactis in relation to survival. J Gen Microbiol. 1969 Nov;58(3):347–362. doi: 10.1099/00221287-58-3-347. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES