TABLE 1.

Recent examples of nongenetically determined phenotypic heterogeneity and bistability in bacteria

Phenotypic heterogeneity and/or bistability trait(s)	Microorganism(s)	Reference(s)
Presence of persister cells, resistance to antibiotics and heavy metals	Staphylococcus sp., E. coli, S. Typhimurium, P. aeruginosa, and others	37–39, 41 and references herein
SOS responsea	E. coli, C. glutamicum	54, 89
Response to peptide antibiotics	B. subtilis	90
Prophage induction	C. glutamicum, S. oneidensis, S. pneumoniae	54–56
Quorum sensing, presence of autoinducer synthesis genes	V. campbellii, V. fischeri, L. monocytogenes, D. shibae, P. syringae, P. putida, S. fredii, S. meliloti	13, 19, 23–25, 29, 30, 32–34, 91
Arabinose utilization	E. coli	63, 64
Polyhydroxybutyrate utilization	S. meliloti	92
Secretion of related genes	S. fredii	30
Quorum quenching genes	S. fredii	30
Motility, secondary-flagellum formation	S. putrefaciens, S. Typhimurium	68, 93
Biofilm escape, motility after putisolvin production	P. putida	33
Genomic island excision/transfer	M. loti, Pseudomonas knackmussii	28, 94, 95
Bacterial competence, DNA uptake	B. subtilis, S. mutans	71–74
Sporulation	B. subtilis	9, 96, 97
Colony heterogeneity	S. aureus	7
Increased lag phase	E. coli	8
Surface pilus formation	S. pneumoniae	98
Myo-inositol utilization	S. enterica	99
Biofilm formation	S. enterica, B. subtilis	100, 101
Antibiotic production	Streptomyces coelicolor	102

^aThe SOS response is in part linked to the formation of persister cells (see reference 39 and references therein).