SLOW GROWTH RATE

 

When times get tough, the tough get going.  If you are a bacterial species, a scarce supply of nutrients constitutes tough times.  Regular bacteria aren’t tough, so they have to be smart, so when times get tough, the smart bacteria slow down their growth rate.  N. sanguineum seems to be the most resilient of all bacteria  – part of its extremophlilic defense. 

N. sanguineum generates biomass at 1/10,000th the rate of E. coli.  When semi-dormant and sheltered in their calcium igloos, Nanobacteria double once every 6 days, about 1/20,000th the rate of common bacteria. When uncalcified, these Nanobacteria, now free in the circulation, assume a “normal” growth rate, doubling every three days. When under attack by whatever means, chemical or otherwise, they can replicate every day (1/3000th the rate of regular bacteria), and make large amounts of “slimy” calcific biofilm to cover themselves.  Slowly growing bacteria don’t need much nutrition; they can survive where others cannot.  N. sanguineum is the slowest growing bacterial species of relevance to human health; N. sanguineum can survive where other pathogens cannot.

Kajander and Ciftcioglu found that N. sanguineum, when placed in a growth media poor in nutrients, could adapt by slowing down its replication rate further; when nutrients were resupplied, replication sped back up.  Two substances, BGF and N3, increased Nanobacterial replication and conferred upon the culture an increased resistance to aminoglycoside antibiotics.  BGF and N3, are the ultracentrifuged, sterile filtered, supernatant obtained from one to three month old cultures of Bacillus and Nanobacterium sanguineum. 

 

 

 It seems that N. sanguineum has developed strategies to adjust its growth rate to meet the challenges of its environment.  It makes sense to slow down your metabolism and grow slowly when you are in the protection of your cave, and then to speed up and sharpen your defenses when you are exposed to a threat, sort of a bacterial “fight or flight” response.

           

                                                                       Return to Scientific Review Index             Next Section in Scientific Review