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Originally published in Science Express on 12 August 2004
Science 10 September 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5690, pp. 1622 - 1625
DOI: 10.1126/science.1099390
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Reports

Bacterial Persistence as a Phenotypic Switch

Nathalie Q. Balaban,1,2* Jack Merrin,1 Remy Chait,1 Lukasz Kowalik,1 Stanislas Leibler1

A fraction of a genetically homogeneous microbial population may survive exposure to stress such as antibiotic treatment. Unlike resistant mutants, cells regrown from such persistent bacteria remain sensitive to the antibiotic. We investigated the persistence of single cells of Escherichia coli with the use of microfluidic devices. Persistence was linked to preexisting heterogeneity in bacterial populations because phenotypic switching occurred between normally growing cells and persister cells having reduced growth rates. Quantitative measurements led to a simple mathematical description of the persistence switch. Inherent heterogeneity of bacterial populations may be important in adaptation to fluctuating environments and in the persistence of bacterial infections.

1 Laboratory of Living Matter and Center for Studies in Physics and Biology, Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA.
2 Racah Institute for Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nathalieqb{at}phys.huji.ac.il

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