Multifaceted remodeling by vitamin C boosts sensitivity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis subpopulations to combination treatment by anti-tubercular drugs.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial dormancy is a major impediment to the eradication of tuberculosis (TB), because currently used drugs primarily target actively replicating bacteria. Therefore, decoding of the critical survival pathways in dormant tubercle bacilli is a research priority to formulate new approaches for killing these bacteria. Employing a network-based gene expression analysis approach, we demonstrate that redox active vitamin C (vit C) triggers a multifaceted and robust adaptation response in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) involving ~ 67% of the genome. Vit C-adapted bacteria display well-described features of dormancy, including growth stasis and progression to a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state, loss of acid-fastness and reduction in length, dissipation of reductive stress through trigly

SUBMITTER: Sikri K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5975079 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature