Recovery from nutrient starvation by a marine Vibrio sp.

A marine psychrophilic Vibrio sp., Ant-300, recovered from starvation after the addition of 1 volume of complete nutrient medium to 9 volumes of starvation menstruum. Turbidity (measured by optical density), viable cell counts, cell size (measured from electron micrographs), and cellular concentrations of protein, DNA, and RNA were monitored with recovery time. The usual growth curve of bacterial cultures was observed. On a per viable cell basis, protein, DNA, and RNA increased to maximum values just before cell division and then returned to close to the initial starved-cell value during the stationary phase. Cells under complete starvation conditions or missing only one nutrient in the stationary phase responded with cell division resulting in many smaller cells. The length of the lag phase during recovery was directly proportional to the length of the prior starvation period, even when identical numbers of cells were used for recovery. Cells appeared to pass more deeply into dormancy with starvation time.