While much attention has been paid to study (usually balanced) growth of microbial organisms, the physiological properties of non-growing cells remain and exciting and much less studied topic. In the forum session, we have two experts to discuss the physiology of non-growing cells.
Nathalie Balaban: We recently identified a general "disrupted" cellular behavior under acute stress. The disruption is apparent in the inability to grow, as well as in the delayed and very variable recovery, once the stress is removed. The main features of disruptions can be observed under various unrelated stresses and can be explained by a simple toy model of the inner dynamics of the cell similar to the phenomenon of physical aging in glassy systems.