Staphylococcus aureus has an incredible ability to survive, either by adapting to environmental conditions or defending against exogenous stress. Although there are certainly important genetic traits, in part this ability is provided by the breadth of modes of growth S. aureus can adopt. It has been proposed that while within their host, S. aureus survives host-generated and therapeutic antimicrobial stress via alternative lifestyles: a persister sub-population, through biofilm growth on host tissue or by growing as small colony variants (SCVs). Key to an understanding of chronic and relapsing S. aureus infections is determining the molecular basis for its switch to these quasi-dormant lifestyles. In a multicellular biofilm, the metabolically quiescent bacterial community additionally produces a highly protective extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). Furthermore, there are bacteria within a biofilm community that have an altered physiology potentially equivalent to persister cells. Recent studies have directly linked the cellular ATP production by persister cells as their key feature and the basis for their tolerance of a range of antibiotics. In clinical settings, SCVs of S. aureus have been observed for many years; when cultured, these cells form non-pigmented colonies and are approximately ten times smaller than their counterparts. Various genotypic factors have been identified in attempts to characterize S. aureus SCVs and different environmental stresses have been implicated as important inducers.
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March 2017
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A representative image of a microfl uidic device for antibiotic susceptibility testing. In the device, bacterial cells are immobilized enabling realtime monitoring of bacterial morphology. Upon addition of antibiotics, susceptible cells die, while the resistant bacteria survive. For more information please see the article by Aroonnual et al. (pages 91-101). - PDF Icon PDF LinkTable of Contents
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Review Article|
March 03 2017
Antibiotic tolerance and the alternative lifestyles of Staphylococcus aureus
Long M.G. Bui;
Long M.G. Bui
1Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
2Australian Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Ecology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
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Brian P. Conlon;
Brian P. Conlon
3Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7290, U.S.A.
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Stephen P. Kidd
Stephen P. Kidd
1Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
2Australian Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Ecology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
October 11 2016
Revision Received:
November 22 2016
Accepted:
November 25 2016
Online ISSN: 1744-1358
Print ISSN: 0071-1365
© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society
2017
Essays Biochem (2017) 61 (1): 71–79.
Article history
Received:
October 11 2016
Revision Received:
November 22 2016
Accepted:
November 25 2016
Citation
Henrietta Venter, Long M.G. Bui, Brian P. Conlon, Stephen P. Kidd; Antibiotic tolerance and the alternative lifestyles of Staphylococcus aureus. Essays Biochem 3 March 2017; 61 (1): 71–79. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/EBC20160061
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