title: Novel protocol for persister cells isolation.
abstract: Bacterial persistence, where a fraction of a population presents a transient resistance to bactericidal substances, has great medical importance due to its relation with the appearance of antibiotic resistances and untreatable bacterial chronic infections. The mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain largely unknown in spite of recent advances, in great part because of the difficulty in isolating the very small fraction of the population that is in this state at any given time. Current protocols for persister isolation have resulted in possible biases because of the induction of this state by the protocol itself. Here we present a novel protocol that allows rapid isolation of persister cells both from exponential and stationary phase. Moreover, it is capable of differentiating between type I and type II persister cells, which should allow the field to move beyond its current state of studying only one type. While this protocol prompts a revision of many of the current results, it should greatly facilitate further advances in the field.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia.
authors.forename: Silvia J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cañas-Duarte
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Restrepo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia.
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pedraza
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D050296:Microbial Viability / Q000187:drug effects; D013045:Species Specificity; D059008:Time-Lapse Imaging
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents