Availability of the Molecular Switch XylR Controls Phenotypic Heterogeneity and Lag Duration during Escherichia coli Adaptation from Glucose to Xylose

Abstract

For decades, it was thought that the lags observed when microorganisms switch from one substrate to another are inherent to the time required to adapt the molecular machinery to the new substrate. Here, the lag duration was found to be the time necessary for a subpopulation of adapted cells to emerge and become the main population.