Toxin–antitoxin systems are widespread in bacterial genomes. They are usually composed
of two elements: a toxin that inhibits an essential cellular process and an antitoxin that …

Increasing concerns about the rising rates of antibiotic therapy failure and advances in
single-cell analyses have inspired a surge of research into antibiotic persistence. Bacterial …

Biofilms are surface-associated bacterial communities that play both beneficial and harmful
roles in nature, medicine, and industry. Tolerant and persister cells are thought to underlie …

Many bacteria can infect and persist inside their hosts for long periods of time. This can be
due to immunosuppression of the host, immune evasion by the pathogen and/or ineffective …

Antibiotic tolerance is associated with the failure of antibiotic treatment and the relapse of
many bacterial infections. However, unlike resistance, which is commonly measured using …

BACKGROUND The escalating crisis of multidrug resistance is raising fears of untreatable
infections caused by bacterial “superbugs.” However, many patients already suffer from …

Bacterial persister cells constitute a subpopulation of genetically identical, metabolically
slow-growing cells that are highly tolerant of antibiotics and other environmental stresses …

Most microbial communities consist of a genetically diverse assembly of different organisms,
and the level of genetic diversity plays an important part in community properties and …

Surface-associated microbial communities, called biofilms, are present in all environments.
Although biofilms play an important positive role in a variety of ecosystems, they also have …

The viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state has been recognized as a strategy for bacteria to
cope with stressful environments; in this state, bacteria fail to grow on routine culture …