MICROBIAL PERSISTENCE

Microbial Persistence

A previously reported form of microbial persistence whereby large populations of tubercle bacilli can be made to "vanish" uniformly from the tissues of mice has been shown to occur generally throughout each group of animals subjected to the experimental procedure; it does not reflect the eradication of the bacilli in the majority of animals with their persistence and ultimate revival in only a ...

Senescence can explain microbial persistence.

It has been known for many years that small fractions of persister cells resist killing in many bacterial colony-antimicrobial confrontations. These persisters are not believed to be mutants. Rather it has been hypothesized that they are phenotypic variants. Current models allow cells to switch in and out of the persister phenotype. Here, a different explanation is suggested for persistence, na...

Microbial persistence and the road to drug resistance.

Microbial drug persistence is a widespread phenomenon in which a subpopulation of microorganisms is able to survive antimicrobial treatment without acquiring resistance-conferring genetic changes. Microbial persisters can cause recurrent or intractable infections, and, like resistant mutants, they carry an increasing clinical burden. In contrast to heritable drug resistance, however, the biolog...

High levels of antibiotic tolerance and persistence are induced by the commercial anti-microbial triclosan

Long-Term Persistence of Bi-functionality Contributes to the Robustness of Microbial Life through Exaptation

Modern enzymes are highly optimized biocatalysts that process their substrates with extreme efficiency. Many enzymes catalyze more than one reaction; however, the persistence of such ambiguities, their consequences and evolutionary causes are largely unknown. As a paradigmatic case, we study the history of bi-functionality for a time span of approximately two billion years for the sugar isomera...