title: Persistence Increases in the Absence of the Alarmone Guanosine Tetraphosphate by Reducing Cell Growth.
abstract: Most bacterial cells are stressed, and as a result, some become tolerant to antibiotics by entering a dormant state known as persistence. The key intracellular metabolite that has been linked to this persister state is guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp), the alarmone that was first linked to nutrient stress. In Escherichia coli, ppGpp redirects protein production during nutrient stress by interacting with RNA polymerase directly and by inhibiting several proteins. Consistently, increased levels of ppGpp lead to increased persistence; but, the mechanism by which elevated ppGpp translates into persistence has not been determined. Hence, we explored persistence in the absence of ppGpp so that the underlying mechanism of persister cell formation could be explored. We found that persister cells still form, although at lower levels, in the absence of ppGpp. Additionally, the toxin/antitoxin systems that we investigated (MqsR, MazF, GhoT, and YafQ) remain able to increase persistence dramatically in the absence of ppGpp. By overproducing each E. coli protein from the 4287 plasmid vectors of the ASKA library and selecting for increased persistence in the absence of ppGpp (via a relA spoT mutant), we identified five new proteins, YihS, PntA, YqjE, FocA, and Zur, that increase persistence simply by reducing cell growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802-4400, USA.
authors.forename: Nityananda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802-4400, USA.
authors.forename: Brian W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Kwan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802-4400, USA.|Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802-4400, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D006159:Guanosine Tetraphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D006159:Guanosine Tetraphosphate; D002939:Ciprofloxacin; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases
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