TY - JOUR
T1 - (p)ppGpp Controls Bacterial Persistence by Stochastic Induction of Toxin-Antitoxin Activity
AU - Maisonneuve, Etienne
AU - Castro-Camargo, Manuela
AU - Gerdes, Kenn
PY - 2013/8/29
Y1 - 2013/8/29
N2 - Persistence refers to the phenomenon in which isogenic populations of antibiotic-sensitive bacteria produce rare cells that transiently become multidrug tolerant. Whether slow growth in a rare subset of cells underlies the persistence phenotype has not be examined in wild-type bacteria. Here, we show that an exponentially growing population of wildtype Escherichia coli cells produces rare cells that stochastically switch into slow growth, that the slow-growing cells are multidrug tolerant, and that they are able to resuscitate. The persistence phenotype depends hierarchically on the signaling nucleotide (p)ppGpp, Lon protease, inorganic polyphosphate, and toxin-antitoxins. We show that the level of (p)ppGpp varies stochastically in a population of exponentially growing cells and that the high (p)ppGpp level in rare cells induces slow growth and persistence. (p)ppGpp triggers slow growth by activating toxin-antitoxin loci through a regulatory cascade depending on inorganic polyphosphate and Lon protease.
AB - Persistence refers to the phenomenon in which isogenic populations of antibiotic-sensitive bacteria produce rare cells that transiently become multidrug tolerant. Whether slow growth in a rare subset of cells underlies the persistence phenotype has not be examined in wild-type bacteria. Here, we show that an exponentially growing population of wildtype Escherichia coli cells produces rare cells that stochastically switch into slow growth, that the slow-growing cells are multidrug tolerant, and that they are able to resuscitate. The persistence phenotype depends hierarchically on the signaling nucleotide (p)ppGpp, Lon protease, inorganic polyphosphate, and toxin-antitoxins. We show that the level of (p)ppGpp varies stochastically in a population of exponentially growing cells and that the high (p)ppGpp level in rare cells induces slow growth and persistence. (p)ppGpp triggers slow growth by activating toxin-antitoxin loci through a regulatory cascade depending on inorganic polyphosphate and Lon protease.
U2 - 10.1016/j.cell.2013.07.048
DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2013.07.048
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 23993101
SN - 0092-8674
VL - 154
SP - 1140
EP - 1150
JO - Cell
JF - Cell
IS - 5
ER -