long review on bacterial energetics

[Guest guest]

This paper is interesting as hell:

http://mmbr.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/59/1/48

It seems the minimal " survival metabolism " (glucose consumption) of

E. coli and B. subtlis is only 1.5 to 3% of the glucose consumption

of cells growing at max rate.

Protein turnover in stationary phase is cited at 5 to 8% an hour,

which probably represents the majority of the energy consumption for

the minimum survival metabolism.

This means that if bacteria just want to hang on, and not necessarily

grow very much, they barely need a whit of energy. However, the

minimal metabolism may be somwhat higher in the hostile

microenvironments where I imagine my bacteria must reside, than in

the stationary phase situations found in these experiments.

Also given is a fascinating energy budget for E coli at max growth

rate (both in amino-acid-containing media and in non-amino-acid-

containing media). Protein polymerization is by far the most

expensive activity. Nothing else compares. Apparantly, anyway - its

not clear what the values for " other functions " such as ion transport

mean, since the column for those values is labelled (mmol ATP / g

macromolecule) and an ion is not a macromolecule.