Question

Explain what would happen to bacteria, grown originally at 25 celcius, when suddenly transferred to fridge with 4 celcius environment?

Answer 1

Microorganisms thrive at a wide range of temperatures; they have colonized different natural environments and have adapted to extreme temperatures. Both extreme cold and hot temperatures require evolutionary adjustments to macromolecules and biological processes.Adaptations to cold and hot temperatures require changes in the composition of membrane lipids and proteins.

For this question e.coli can be taken as example as it grows in 25°Celsius. Escherichia coli is exposed to a temperature drop from 37 to 4 degrees Celsius, a four to five hour lag phase occurs and then growth is resumed at a reduced rate.The cold-shock domain (CSD) is a protein domain of about 70 amino acids which has been found in prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA-binding proteins. During the lag phase, the expression of around 13 proteins, which contain cold shock domains is increased two- to ten-fold. These so-called cold shock proteins are thought to help the cell survive in temperatures lower than optimum growth temperature.