Persister cells are metabolically quiescent multi-drug tolerant fraction of a genetically sensitive bacterial population and are thought to be responsible for relapse of many persistent infections. Persisters can be formed naturally in the stationary phase culture, and also can be induced by bacteriostatic antibiotics. However, the molecular basis of bacteriostatic antibiotic induced persister formation is unknown. Here, we established a bacteriostatic antibiotic induced persister model and screened the Escherichia coli single gene deletion mutant library for mutants with defect in rifampin or tetracycline induced persistence to ofloxacin. Thirsty-seven and nine genes were found with defects in rifampin- and tetracycline-induced persister formation, respectively. Six mutants were found to overlap in both rifampin and tetracycline induced persister screens: recA, recC, ruvA, uvrD, fis, and acrB. Interestingly, four of these mutants (recA, recC, ruvA, and uvrD) mapped to DNA repair pathway, one mutant mapped to global transcriptional regulator (fis) and one to efflux (acrB). The stationary phase culture of the identified mutants and parent strain BW25113 were subjected to different antibiotics including ofloxacin, ampicillin, gentamicin, and stress conditions including starvation and acid pH 4.0. All the six mutants showed less tolerance to ofloxacin, but only some of them were more sensitive to other specific stress conditions. Complementation of five of the six common mutants restored the persister level to that of the parent strain in both stationary phase and static antibiotic-induced conditions. In addition to the DNA repair pathways shared by both rifampin and tetracycline induced persisters, genes involved in rifampin-induced persisters map also to transporters, LPS biosynthesis, flagella biosynthesis, metabolism (folate and energy), and translation, etc. These findings suggest that persisters generated by different ways may share common mechanisms of survival, and also shed new insight into the molecular basis of static antibiotic induced antagonism of cidal antibiotics.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
2
3%
Nursing and Health Professions
2
3%
Other
6
10%
Unknown
19
31%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 22 March 2018.
All research outputs
#17,490,610
of 26,437,155 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Microbiology
#15,946
of 30,336 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#218,590
of 351,488 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Microbiology
#385
of 587 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,437,155 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 31st percentile – i.e., 31% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 30,336 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.4. This one is in the 40th percentile – i.e., 40% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 351,488 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 34th percentile – i.e., 34% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 587 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 31st percentile – i.e., 31% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
