Slow growth for bacterial persistence

Microbiology Bacteria that do not carry mutations or genes that confer resistance to specific antibiotics can nonetheless survive antibiotic treatment, a phenomenon known as persistence. Pontes and Groisman demonstrated that Salmonella persisted even in the absence of any of the pathways or specific intracellular conditions known to account for bacterial persistence (see the Focus by Kaldalu and Tenson). Thus, it seems that slow growth alone is sufficient for persistence, which may contribute to the difficulty in treating some bacterial infections. Sci. Signal. 12 , eaax3938, eaay1167 (2019).