Role of antibiotic stress in phenotypic switching to persister cells of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
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Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate phenotypic and genotypic properties of persister cells formed by Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 15564 (SA WT), oxacillin-induced S. aureus (SA OXA), ciprofloxacin-induced S. aureus (SA CIP), and clinically isolated multidrug-resistant S. aureus CCARM 3080 (SA MDR). Methods: The dose-dependent biphasic killing patterns were observed for SA WT, SA OXA, SA CIP, and SA MDR in response to twofold minimum inhibitory concentrate (MIC) of ciprofloxacin. The surviving cells of SA WT, SA OXA, SA CIP, and SA MDR after twofold MIC of ciprofloxacin treatment were analyzed using a metabolic-based assay to estimate the fractions of persister cells. Results: The least persister formation was induced in SA CIP after twofold MIC of ciprofloxacin treatment, showing 58% of persistence. The lowest fitness cost of resistance was observed for the recovered persister cells of SA CIP (relative fitness = 0.95), followed by SA MDR (relative fitness = 0.70), while the highest fitness cost was observed for SA WT (relative fitness = 0.26). The mRNA transcripts were analyzed by RT-PCR assay in recovered persister cells pre-incubated with ciprofloxacin. The highest expression levels of stress-related genes (dnaK and groEL) and efflux pump-related genes (mepR, norA, and norB) were observed in the recovered persister cells of SA OXA and SA MDR. Conclusion: This study provides valuable information for understanding crosstalk between antibiotic resistance, tolerance, and persistence in different antibiotic-resistant S. aureus strains.
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Adding microorganisms (bioaugmentation) to soils that need to be cleaned up on a large scale may not always be the best way because it can change the geochemical content and the native microbial community over time.
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Persister cells, dormancy and infectious disease
Lewis, K. (2007) · Nature Reviews Microbiology · doi:10.1038/nrmicro1557 · Cited by 2,052 · see citing works
Lewis, K. (2010) · Annual Review of Microbiology · doi:10.1146/annurev.micro.112408.134306 · Cited by 1,858 · see citing works
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Qattan, S. Y. A. (2025) · Environmental Sciences Europe · doi:10.1186/s12302-025-01103-y · Cited by 109 · see citing works
- Authors
- Dawan, J., Wei, S., & Ahn, J.
- Affiliations
- Kangwon National University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Ahn, Juhee
- Venue
- Annals of Microbiology
- Published
- 2020-02-21
- Volume
- 70
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 0003-4649 (ISSN-L)
- 1590-4261
- 1869-2044
- OpenAlex
- W3030341380
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 0.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Annals of Microbiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Research Foundation of Korea (2016R1D1A3B01008304)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing
- Keywords
- Staphylococcus aureus, persister cells, antibiotic stress, antibiotic resistance, antibiotic tolerance, phenotypic switching, ciprofloxacin, oxacillin, multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, fitness cost of resistance, efflux pumps, Nora, norB, DnaK, GroEL, stress response genes
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