Bacterial economics: Adaptation to stress conditions via stage-wise changes in the response mechanism

•Modelling bacterial survival and regrowth.•Parallel between microbial and human communities.•Case study: response of Escherichia. coli to osmotic stress.•Recommendations for further developments in predictive microbiology.

Common features of microbial adaptation are analysed with mathematical models and extended to stress conditions when the bacterial population declines before growing again. A parallel is drawn between bacterial and human communities in terms of non-mutation-based adaptation (acclimation) to stress. For a case study, the behaviour of Escherichia coli under osmotic stress, is detailed. It is suggested that stress modelling adaptation should be the focus of further developments in predictive food microbiology.