A stress-inducible quorum-sensing peptide mediates the formation of persister cells with noninherited multidrug tolerance.

ABSTRACT: Within a given microbial population, a small subpopulation known as dormant persister cells exists. This persistence property ensures the survival of the population as a whole in the presence of lethal factors. Although persisters are highly important in antibiotic therapy, the mechanism for persistence is still not thoroughly understood. We show here that the cariogenic organism Streptococcus mutans forms persister cells showing noninherited multidrug tolerance. We demonstrated that the ectopic expression of the type II toxin-antitoxin systems, MazEF and RelBE, caused an increase in the number of persisters. In a search for additional persistence genes, an expression library was constructed, and several clones exhibiting a significant difference in persister formation after prolonged anti

SUBMITTER: Leung V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3347057 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature