Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 27, 2026

High-throughput Screening of Chemical Compounds to Elucidate Their Effects on Bacterial Persistence
Published on: February 23, 2021
Antibiotics stimulate protein transfer to persister cells
Alice X Wen1,2,3, Julia Bos4, Debojyoti Panda5
1Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
None:
The exchange of biological matter between bacterial cells drives adaptation and evolution. However, whether bacteria can exchange functional proteins remains unclear. In this work, we found that antibiotic treatment can induce vesicle-mediated horizontal protein transfer within and between bacterial species. We developed a genetic system in Escherichia coli to track transfer events and performed single-cell transcriptomic profiling on an isogenic population of bacteria. Antibiotics stimulated the differentiation of this isogenic population into distinct cell states: donor cells that activated a membrane stress response to release protein-containing vesicles and recipient cells that suppressed this response to acquire protein from their neighbors. Protein uptake enhanced the antibiotic persistence of recipient cells, revealing that vesicle exchange promotes bacterial survival during antibiotic treatment.
Related Concept Videos
Inhibitors of Bacterial Protein Synthesis
Development of Antibiotic Resistance
Antibiotic Selection
Antimicrobial Proteins
Interferons
Interferons (IFNs) are proteins produced by lymphocytes, macrophages, and fibroblasts infected with viruses. While IFNs cannot prevent viruses from entering and...
Inhibitors of Gram-positive Cell Wall Synthesis
Production of Antibiotics

