2019/01/15 by Robert L. Bertrand · 363 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Listeria monocytogenes in Food Safety #Gut microbiota and health #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Biology #Lag #Bacteria #Organism #Computational biology #Genetics #Computer science
paper · pdf · doi:10.1128/jb.00697-18
published in Journal of Bacteriology 201(7) (American Society for Microbiology)
openalex publication_date 2019/01/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Lag is a temporary period of nonreplication seen in bacteria that are introduced to new media. Despite latency being described by Müller in 1895, only recently have we gained insights into the cellular processes characterizing lag phase. This review covers literature to date on the transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, physiological, biochemical, and evolutionary features of prokaryotic lag. Though lag is commonly described as a preparative phase that allows bacteria to harvest nutrients and adapt to new environments, the implications of recent studies indicate that a refinement of this view is well deserved. As shown, lag is a dynamic, organized, adaptive, and evolvable process that protects bacteria from threats, promotes reproductive fitness, and is broadly relevant to the study of bacterial evolution, host-pathogen interactions, antibiotic tolerance, environmental biology, molecular microbiology, and food safety.