image: Schematic representation comparing E. coli growth at 27°C and 37°C. At the host body temperature of 37°C, H-NS transitions from a gene silencer to a structural scaffold, unlocking the growth-accelerating potential of the Rac prophage and driving rapid initial multiplication.
Credit: Hosei University (Yamamoto Lab), CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
E. coli bacteria are adapted to grow fastest at their host's physiological temperature of 37°C, likely because of physical reorganization of their genome which only happens within an optimal temperature range
Article URL: https://plos.io/4ylVAGX
Article title: Structural basis of H-NS-mediated temperature-dependent stimulation of initial growth in Escherichia coli
Author countries: Japan.
Funding: This work was supported by a Research Fellowship for Young Scientists from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science to YM [JP18J14641], a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) [20K05795], the MEXT-Supported Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities, the Takahashi Industrial and Economic Research Foundation, and the Japan Keirin Autorace Foundation to KY. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Journal
PLOS One
Article Title
Structural basis of H-NS-mediated temperature-dependent stimulation of initial growth in Escherichia coli
Article Publication Date
28-Oct-2026
COI Statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could constitute a potential conflict of interest.