Cover photograph (Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.): The image shows a 7-day-old Escherichia coli colony viewed using a confocal microscope. The E. coli strain carries stress-inducible pygdI-yfp and RpoS-dependent pyiaG-rfp reporter fusions. As indicated by the yiaG gene expression (red) and by cell morphology, most cells within the colony are in dormancy. However, an island of growing cells expressing the ygdI gene (green) embedded in the bulk of dormant cells is visible. This island contains dead cells (stained with Alexa Fluor 633 hydrazide; blue) in its center. The observed pattern suggests that when some cells die in old colonies, they provide nutrients for other cells to grow. (See related article on page 3059.)