title: Interaction of Staphylococcus aureus persister cells with the host when in a persister state and following awakening.
abstract: Persister cells, a tolerant cell sub-population, are commonly associated with chronic and recurrent infections. However, little is known about their ability to actually initiate or establish an infection, become virulent and cause pathogenicity within a host. Here we investigated whether Staphylococcus aureus persister cells initiate an infection and are recognized by macrophages, while in a persister cell status, and upon awakening due to exposure to cis-2-decenoic acid (cis-DA). Our results show that S. aureus persister cells are not able to initiate infections in A. thaliana and present significantly reduced virulence towards C. elegans compared to total populations. In contrast, awakened S. aureus persister cells are able to initiate infections in A. thaliana and in C. elegans albeit, with lower mortality than total population. Furthermore, exposure of S. aureus persister cells to cis-DA led to a loss of tolerance to ciprofloxacin, and an increase of the bacterial fluorescence to levels found in total population. In addition, macrophage engulfment of persister cells was significantly lower than engulfment of total population, both before and following awakening. Overall our findings indicate that upon awakening of a persister population the cells regain their ability to infect hosts despite the absence of an increased immune response.
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.|Binghamton Biofilm Research Center (BBRC), Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.
authors: Elin G
authors: EG
authors: Mina
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.|Binghamton Biofilm Research Center (BBRC), Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.
authors: Cláudia N H
authors: CN
authors: Marques
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000382:microbiology*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000382:microbiology*; D002452:Cell Count; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000494:pharmacology; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated / Q000737:chemistry; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D050296:Microbial Viability / Q000187:drug effects; D057865:Plant Immunity; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000502:physiology*; D014774:Virulence / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; C052476:2-decenoic acid; D002939:Ciprofloxacin