The recognition, control, and stress tolerance of bacterial persister cells

Abstract

Bacterial persister cells are metabolically dormant cells in which cell activities such as protein synthesis and cell division are somehow drastically slowed down, so that they can survive under intensive antibiotic treatment that targets such cell activities. This review summarizes information about persister cells such as their history, definition, mechanism of formation, threats to clinical environments, and how to control them. In addition to such information, this review also introduces our recent studies on the physical stress tolerance of persister cells and their possible control in food environments. We demonstrated that some bacterial persister cells are indeed highly heat and acid tolerant compared to normal cells, although diversity was discovered in persister cell populations. We also found that indole and its derivatives or acetic acid are promising candidates for persister cell eradication in food environments. We believe that this review will aid in wider attention to and understanding of the importance of these quiet yet clever bacterial persister cells.