E.coli cells exiting the stringent response

The stringent response in E.coli is a response to nutrient (typically amino acid) starvation and is characterized by the accumulation of the small molecular regulator ppGpp, and a global response in transcriptional regulation.  In a new paper in PLoS Genetics, Daniel Ferullo and Susan Lovett examine chromosome segregation during the stringent respons and discuss what appears to be a novel G1-like cell cycle checkpoint in bacteria that occurs as the result.