Robust, linear correlations between growth rates and β-lactam-mediated lysis rates.

ABSTRACT: It is widely acknowledged that faster-growing bacteria are killed faster by β-lactam antibiotics. This notion serves as the foundation for the concept of bacterial persistence: dormant bacterial cells that do not grow are phenotypically tolerant against β-lactam treatment. Such correlation has often been invoked in the mathematical modeling of bacterial responses to antibiotics. Due to the lack of thorough quantification, however, it is unclear whether and to what extent the bacterial growth rate can predict the lysis rate upon β-lactam treatment under diverse conditions. Enabled by experimental automation, here we measured >1,000 growth/killing curves for eight combinations of antibiotics and bacterial species and strains, including clinical isolates of bacterial pathogens. We found that

SUBMITTER: Lee AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5910845 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature