Does an unicellular organism die out of starvation?

[FREAK]

Does an unicellular organism die..... if it does not get nutrient substancees for a long time?

What I mean by death is that it does not replicate it's dna, trancribe gene and translate them to protein, carry out metabolic processes as it normally does, even when there are surplus nutrient elements.
If the answer is yes. Then the next question is: why?
It is understandable that without nutrient it cannot carry out many vital processes..... In this case it cannot carry out them for a long interval. But after that interval it has access to nutrient.... but it cannot manipulate them to continue life as it did before. What happened in this period (of drought) that has irreversibly shifted it to a position from which it cannot come back to manifest life?
How this shift (shift away from life) takes place?

[mith]

Here's one possible reason,

We often see children with distended stomaches from national geographic magazines. I was told that this was due to a protein deficiency that causes fluids to collect in the stomach. According to the story, if you fed them proteins they would not get better because their deficiency is so great that they don't have digestive enzymes to absorb the proteins.

[FREAK]

Large animals like us die from starvation. It's easy to see why?
Because we need energy to live.... even when we are not doing anything.
We may not do anything but the heart beats, sensoriums are on (as opposed to off) and these cost energy. If we don't take food for a long long time.. we lack energy required to keep our complex system switched on, so it turns off. And this turning off is irreversible what is called death. Even if foods are supplied to the death person it is not able to restore the complex autonomous system.
But I can't figure out how simple unicellular organism can die out of starvation.
Does cell need continous supply of energy to maintain some steady state, perhaps some chemical cycles which once ceased can't be retrieved (or restored)? I am not sure. PLEASE HELP!
Is this a silly question? Cos nobody is responding.Please let me know.

[canalon]

The answer is generally YES. Proteins, DNA and other molecules can be degraded by many things and repairs are necessary. Those repairs require energy... But resistant forms can survive very long: spores have been found viable in archaelogical finds.

[kyletay]

The reason you are asking this question has to be with the simplicity of the single celled organism and its use of osmosis to gain nourishment, correct?

[alextemplet]

The process of absorbing and utilizing nutrients itself requires energy, just like our digestion. Once an organism's internal supply of energy (in the form of glucose, ATP, etc.) falls below a certain critical level, it is no longer capable of replenishing them because it lacks sufficient energy to break down and utilize nutrients in its environment.