Starvation proteins in Escherichia coli: kinetics of synthesis and role in starvation survival.

Starvation proteins synthesized by Escherichia coli at the onset of carbon starvation (R. G. Groat and A. Matin, J. Indust. Microbiol. 1:69-73, 1986) exhibited four temporal classes of synthesis in response to glucose or succinate starvation, indicating sequential expression of carbon starvation response (cst) genes. A cst mutant of E. coli showed greatly impaired carbon starvation survival. Thus, it appears that E. coli undergoes a significant molecular realignment in response to starvation, which increases its resistance to this stress. New polypeptides were also synthesized by E. coli in response to phosphate or nitrogen starvation. Some of these polypeptides were unique to a given starvation regimen, but at least 13 appeared to be synthesized regardless of the nutrient deprivation causing the starvation.