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Updated: Apr 30, 2026

High-throughput Screening of Chemical Compounds to Elucidate Their Effects on Bacterial Persistence
Published on: February 23, 2021
Bacterial persisters: formation, eradication, and experimental systems
Sophie Helaine1, Elisabeth Kugelberg1
1Section of Microbiology, Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Imperial College London, Armstrong Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Abstract:
Persisters are multidrug-tolerant bacteria that could account for the relapse of infections. For a long time, persisters have been assumed to be nonreplicating dormant bacteria, but the growth status of these recalcitrant cells is still debated. Toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules have an important role in the formation of persisters and several studies show that they can form in response to different triggers. These findings, together with the invention of new tools to study persisters, could have important implications for the development of novel therapeutics to eradicate persisting subpopulations.
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