Age of inoculum strongly influences persister frequency and can mask effects of mutations implicated in altered persistence.

ABSTRACT: The majority of cells transferred from stationary-phase culture into fresh medium resume growth quickly, while a few remain in a nongrowing state for longer. These temporarily nonproliferating bacteria are tolerant of several bactericidal antibiotics and constitute a main source of persisters. Several genes have been shown to influence the frequency of persisters in Escherichia coli, although the exact mechanism underlying persister formation is unknown. This study demonstrates that the frequency of persisters is highly dependent on the age of the inoculum and the medium in which it has been grown. The hipA7 mutant had 1,000 times more persisters than the wild type when inocula were sampled from younger stationary-phase cultures. When started after a long stationary phase, the two displaye

SUBMITTER: Luidalepp H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3133311 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature