Abstract
Here we show that bacterial communication through indole signaling induces persistence, a phenomenon in which a subset of an isogenic bacterial population tolerates antibiotic treatment. We monitor indole-induced persister formation using microfluidics and identify the role of oxidative-stress and phage-shock pathways in this phenomenon. We propose a model in which indole signaling 'inoculates' a bacterial subpopulation against antibiotics by activating stress responses, leading to persister formation.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank R.H.W. Lam for help with microfluidics. This work was supported by funding from the US National Science Foundation, the US National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award Program and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
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N.M.V., K.R.A., A.S.K. and J.J.C. designed experiments, discussed results and contributed to the manuscript. N.M.V. performed all experiments. N.M.V., K.R.A. and A.S.K. analyzed data. A.S.K. developed the microfluidics platform and performed the microfluidic experiments.
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Vega, N., Allison, K., Khalil, A. et al. Signaling-mediated bacterial persister formation. Nat Chem Biol 8, 431–433 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.915
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.915
