A problem of persistence: still more questions than answers?

Nathalie Q. Balaban; Kenn Gerdes; Kim Lewis; John D. McKinney

doi:10.1038/nrmicro3076

A problem of persistence: still more questions than answers?

Nathalie Q. Balaban, Kenn Gerdes, Kim Lewis, John D. McKinney

161 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The current antibiotic resistance crisis has led to increased pressure to prioritize strategies to tackle the issue, with a strong focus being placed on the development of novel antimicrobials. However, one major obstacle that is often overlooked is persister cells, which are refractory to antibiotic treatment. Tackling persistence is a challenge because these cell types are extremely difficult to study and, consequently, little is known about their physiology and the factors that lead to their emergence. Here, four experts contemplate the main physiological features that define persistence and the implications of persistence for antibiotic treatment regimens, and consider what the study of bacterial persistence has taught us about the heterogeneity of bacterial populations.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature Reviews. Microbiology
Volume	11
Issue number	8
Pages (from-to)	587-591
Number of pages	5
ISSN	1740-1526
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3076
Publication status	Published - Aug 2013
Externally published	Yes

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10.1038/nrmicro3076

Cite this

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title = "A problem of persistence: still more questions than answers?",

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