ArticlePLoS biology2021
Bacterial persisters are a stochastically formed subpopulation of low-energy cells.
Article in PLoS biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers.
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Who cites it
102 citing papers in PubMed, 165 citations in OpenAlex.
- One light to rule them all: photodynamic inactivation of diverseMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2026Article
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- Seeing Bacterial Persistence Through Different Experimental Lenses: How Methodology Shapes Biological Interpretation.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Parallel evolution of chimeric genes in microbial evolution experiments.Microbial genomics · 2026Article
- Association ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- Stress History Establishes a Transient Tolerant State That Shapes Antibiotic Survival Upon Resuscitation.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Mechanism of persister formation in response to nitrogen starvation.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Bacterial Persister Cells as Evolutionary Catalysts of Antibiotic Resistance: Mechanisms, Clinical Implications, and Therapeutic Strategies.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Review
- Beyond metabolic dormancy: metabolic rewiring in bacterial persistence.Nature communications · 2026Review
- Genome-wide screen reveals a universal role of ATP in ciprofloxacin tolerance among genetically distinctmLife · 2026Article
- Combinations of colistin and bacteriocins prevent the selection of colistin resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Persistent Gaps in the Ultimate Mechanisms of Antimicrobial-Induced Bacterial Killing.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Stationary-phasemSphere · 2026Article
- Induced tolerance to UV stress drives survival heterogeneity in isogenic E. coli cell populations.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Molecular Basis of Persister Awakening and Lag-Phase Recovery inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Microfluidics to Meet Antibiotic Resistance: A Growing Research Frontier.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Impact of Host and Bacterial Metabolism on Antibiotic Susceptibility.Biochemistry · 2025Review
42 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Persisters represent a small subpopulation of non- or slow-growing bacterial cells that are tolerant to killing by antibiotics. Despite their prominent role in the recalcitrance of chronic infections to antibiotic therapy, the mechanism of their formation has remained elusive. We show that sorted cells of Escherichia coli with low levels of energy-generating enzymes are better able to survive antibiotic killing. Using microfluidics time-lapse microscopy and a fluorescent reporter for in vivo ATP measurements, we find that a subpopulation of cells with a low level of ATP survives killing by ampicillin. We propose that these low ATP cells are formed stochastically as a result of fluctuations in the abundance of energy-generating components. These findings point to a general "low energy" mechanism of persister formation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.