[Surviving Forms in Antibiotic-Treated Pseudomonas aeruginosa]

Survival of bacterial populations treated with lethal doses of antibiotics is ensured by the presence of very small numbers of persister cells. Unlike antibiotic-resistant cells, antibiotic tolerance of persisters is not inheritable and reversible. The present work provides evidence supporting the hypothesis of transformation (maturation) of persisters of an opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa revealed by ciprofloxacin (CF) treatment (25-100 μg/mL) into dormant cystlike cells (CLC) and non-culturable cells (NC), as was described previously for a number. of non-spore-forming bacteria. Subpopulations of type 1 and type 2 persisters, which survived antibiotic treatment and developed into dormant forms, were heterogeneous in their capacity to form colonies or microcolonies upon germination, in resistance to heating at 70 degrees C, and in cell morphology Type 1 persisters, which were formed after 1-month incubation in the stationary-phase cultures in the medium with decreased C and N concentrations, developed in several types of surviving cells, including those similar to CLC in cell morphology. In the course of 1-month incubation of type 2 persisters, which were formed in exponentially growing cultures, other types of surviving cells developed: immature CLC and L-forms. Unlike P. aeruginosa CLC formed in the control post-stationary phase cultures without antibiotic treatment, most of 1-month persisters, especially type 2 ones, were characterized by the loss of colony-forming capacity, probably due to transition into an uncultured state with relatively high numbers of live intact cells (Live/Dead test). Another survival strategy of P. aeruginosa populations was ensured by a minor subpopulation of CF-tolerant and CF-resistant cells able to grow in the form of microcolonies or regular colonies of decreased size in the presence of the antibiotic. The described P. aeruginosa dormant forms may be responsible for persistent forms in bacteria carriers and latent infections and, together with antibiotic-resistant cells, are important as components of test systems to assay the of efficiency of potential pharmaceuticals against resistant infections.