Definitions and guidelines for research on antibiotic persistence

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Nathalie Q. Balaban, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Sophie Helaine, Imperial College London; Kim Lewis, Northeastern University; Martin Ackermann, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zurich; Bree Aldridge, Tufts University; Dan I. Andersson, Uppsala University; Mark P. Brynildsen, Princeton University; Dirk Bumann, University of Basel; Andrew Camilli, Tufts University; James J. Collins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Christoph Dehio, University of Basel; Sarah Fortune, Harvard University; Jean-Marc Ghigo, Institut Pasteur, Genetics of Biofilms Laboratory, Paris, France; Wolf-Dietrich Hardt, Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich; Alexander Harms, University of Basel; Matthias Heinemann, University of Groningen; Deborah T. Hung, Harvard University; Urs Jenal, University of Basel; Bruce Levin, Emory University; Jan Michiels, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven; Gisela Storz, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Man-Wah Tan, Genentech Inc.; Tanel Tenson, University of Tartu; Laurence Van Melderen, Université Libre de Bruxelles; Annelies Zinkernagel, University of Zurich
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-07-01
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 Springer Nature Limited.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41579-019-0196-3
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Nature Reviews: Microbiology
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 7
• Start Page: 441
• End Page: 448
• Grant/Funding Information: The authors thank the Congressi Stefano Franscini, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) and the University of Basel for supporting the EMBO Workshop ‘Bacterial Persistence and Antimicrobial Therapy’ and A.-C. Hiebel for taking a major role in its organization.; N.Q.B. is funded by the European Research Council (ERC; #681619).; B.R.L. is funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH; R01GM 091875).
• Keywords: Phenotypic heterogeneity; Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Salmonella; Bacterial persistance; Tolerance; Microbiology; Escherichia-coli k-12; Infections; Molecular mechanisms; Resistance; Cells; Frequency
• Research Categories: Chemistry, Biochemistry; Health Sciences, Immunology; Biology, Microbiology; Biology, Molecular

Abstract

Increasing concerns about the rising rates of antibiotic therapy failure and advances in single-cell analyses have inspired a surge of research into antibiotic persistence. Bacterial persister cells represent a subpopulation of cells that can survive intensive antibiotic treatment without being resistant. Several approaches have emerged to define and measure persistence, and it is now time to agree on the basic definition of persistence and its relation to the other mechanisms by which bacteria survive exposure to bactericidal antibiotic treatments, such as antibiotic resistance, heteroresistance or tolerance. In this Consensus Statement, we provide definitions of persistence phenomena, distinguish between triggered and spontaneous persistence and provide a guide to measuring persistence. Antibiotic persistence is not only an interesting example of non-genetic single-cell heterogeneity, it may also have a role in the failure of antibiotic treatments. Therefore, it is our hope that the guidelines outlined in this article will pave the way for better characterization of antibiotic persistence and for understanding its relevance to clinical outcomes.