Antibiotic Tolerance Indicative of Persistence Is Pervasive among Clinical Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates and Shows Strong Condition Dependence.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important human pathogen, being one of the most common causes of community-acquired pneumonia and otitis media. Antibiotic resistance in S. pneumoniae is an emerging problem, as it depletes our arsenal of effective drugs. In addition, persistence also contributes to the antibiotic crisis in many other pathogens, yet for S. pneumoniae, little is known about antibiotic-tolerant persisters and robust experimental means are lacking. Persister cells are phenotypic variants that exist as a subpopulation within a clonal culture. Being tolerant to lethal antibiotics, they underly the chronic nature of a variety of infections and even help in acquiring genetic resistance. In this study, we set out to identify and characterize persistence in S. pneumoniae. Specifically

SUBMITTER: Geerts N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9769776 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature