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Updated: Jun 14, 2025

High-throughput Screening of Chemical Compounds to Elucidate Their Effects on Bacterial Persistence
Published on: February 23, 2021
Bioenergetic stress potentiates antimicrobial resistance and persistence
Barry Li1,2, Shivani Srivastava1,2, Mustafa Shaikh1,2
1Center for Emerging and Re-emerging Pathogens, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA.
None:
The bactericidal action of some antibiotics is associated with increased ATP consumption, cellular respiration, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. Here, we investigate the effects of 'bioenergetic stress', induced by constitutive hydrolysis of ATP and NADH, on antibiotic efficacy in Escherichia coli. We show that bioenergetic stress potentiates the evolution of antibiotic resistance via enhanced ROS production, mutagenic break repair, and transcription-coupled repair. In addition, bioenergetic stress potentiates antibiotic persistence via the stringent response. We propose a model in which the balance between ATP consumption versus production regulates antibiotic resistance and persistence.
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