Review
Nature Reviews Microbiology 5, 48-56 (January 2007) | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1557
Persister cells, dormancy and infectious disease
Kim Lewis1 About the author
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Abstract
Several well-recognized puzzles in microbiology have remained unsolved for decades. These include latent bacterial infections, unculturable microorganisms, persister cells and biofilm multidrug tolerance. Accumulating evidence suggests that these seemingly disparate phenomena result from the ability of bacteria to enter into a dormant (non-dividing) state. The molecular mechanisms that underlie the formation of dormant persister cells are now being unravelled and are the focus of this Review.
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Author affiliations
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Antimicrobial Discovery Center and Department of Biology, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115 USA.
Email: k.lewis@neu.edu
Published online 4 December 2006
