Bacterial cells that are genetically identical to members of their population that succumb to antibiotics can survive in a dormant state, thanks to chemical communication between bacteria.
Surviving 'persister' cells have been implicated in chronic infections such as tuberculosis. James Collins and his team at Boston University in Massachusetts gave Escherichia coli the chemical indole, which the bacteria produce as a signalling molecule. Indole-treated E. coli were able to withstand higher levels of several antibiotics than untreated bacteria. Moreover, the individual bacterial cells in a culture that were most responsive to indole were also those most resistant to antibiotics.
Indole activates genes involved in responding to stress, and E. coli strains lacking stress-response genes produce fewer persisters.
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Bacteria signal to survive. Nature 483, 377 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/483377a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/483377a
