How Vibrio cholerae survive during starvation

Vibrio cholerae, a Gram-negative, motile, aquatic bacterium, is the causal agent of the diarrheal disease cholera. Cholera is a serious epidemic disea se that has killed millions of people and continues to be a major health pr oblem world-wide. The hypothesis that V. cholerae occupies an ecological ni che in the estuarine environment requires that this organism is able to sur vive the dynamics of physiochemical stresses, including nutrient starvation . As a result of these stresses, bacteria in nature often exist in non-grow th or very slow growth states with a low metabolic activity. Because microo rganisms have little ability to control their environment, environmental ch anges have led to changes in cell function and structure. Such cellular res ponses can originate in one of two ways: by changes in genetic constitution or by phenotypic adaptation. In this review, we will focus on the phenotyp ic responses of V. cholerae of a given genotype to starvation stress. (C) 1 999 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.