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Antimicrobial Resistance of Dormant Bacterial Cells

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A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 14314

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Patrick-Julian Mester

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Guest Editor

Unit of Food Microbiology, Institute of Food Safety, Food Technology and Veterinary Public Health, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Interests: viable but nonculturable bacteria; bacterial dormancy; ionic liquids; microbial diagnostics; food safety
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bacteria have evolved numerous means of survival in constantly changing conditions and adverse environments with a wide range of responses. One common mode of survival of bacteria is dormancy, as represented by “persistence” and the “viable but non-culturable” (VBNC) state. VBNC cells have been defined as cells which, induced by some stress, become non-culturable on media that would normally support their growth but retain intact membranes, undamaged genetic material, and metabolic activity and can potentially revert to the active, culturable state. Despite their invisibility to routine microbiological diagnostic methods, another major concern regarding VBNC cells is their significantly increased tolerance against antimicrobials such as antibiotics, disinfectants and antiseptics. These findings have been made possible due to the recent availability of culture independent methods that have been adapted for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of VBNC cells. Given their high public health relevance, it is of great importance to further investigate the antimicrobial susceptibility of dormant bacterial pathogens and research the underlying mechanisms regarding VBNC resistance and tolerance in order to shed more light on this poorly understood physiological state.

This Special Issue seeks manuscript submissions that further our understanding of antimicrobial resistance of bacteria in the VBNC state. Submissions on the response of these organisms to antiseptics/disinfectants/biocides, which are used to reduce transmission of these organisms, as well as new methodical approaches to study cells in the in the VBNC state are especially encouraged.

Dr. Patrick Mester
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Antimicrobial resistance
Disinfectant and antiseptic reduced susceptibility
Viable but non-culturable
Culture independent methods

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 1419 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Copper Kills Escherichia coli Persister Cells

by Paula Maria Moreira Martins, Ting Gong, Alessandra A. de Souza and Thomas K. Wood

Antibiotics 2020, 9(8), 506; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/antibiotics9080506 - 12 Aug 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4305

Abstract

Due to their reduced metabolism, persister cells can survive most antimicrobial treatments, which usually rely on corrupting active biochemical pathways. Therefore, molecules that kill bacterial persisters should function in a metabolism-independent manner. Some anti-persister compounds have been found previously, such as the DNA-crosslinkers mitomycin C and cisplatin, but more effective and lower cost alternatives are needed. Copper alloys have been used since ancient times due to their antimicrobial properties, and they are still used in agriculture to control plant bacterial diseases. By stopping transcription with rifampicin and by treating with ampicillin to remove non-persister cells, we created a population that consists solely of Escherichia coli persister cells. Using this population of persister cells, we demonstrate that cupric compounds kill E. coli persister cells. Hence, copper ions may be used in controlling the spread of important bacterial strains that withstand treatment with conventional antimicrobials by forming persister cells. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antimicrobial Resistance of Dormant Bacterial Cells)

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10 pages, 1422 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Role of Tobramycin in the Induction and Maintenance of Viable but Non-Culturable Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an In Vitro Biofilm Model

by Gianmarco Mangiaterra, Nicholas Cedraro, Salvatore Vaiasicca, Barbara Citterio, Roberta Galeazzi, Emiliano Laudadio, Giovanna Mobbili, Cristina Minnelli, Davide Bizzaro and Francesca Biavasco

Antibiotics 2020, 9(7), 399; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/antibiotics9070399 - 10 Jul 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2606

Abstract

The recurrence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) biofilm infections is a major issue in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. A pivotal role is played by the presence of antibiotic-unresponsive persisters and/or viable but non-culturable (VBNC) forms, whose development might be favored by subinhibitory antibiotic concentrations. The involvement of tobramycin and ciprofloxacin, widely used to treat CF PA lung infections, in the abundance of VBNC cells was investigated in PA biofilms models. In vitro biofilms of the laboratory strain PAO1-N and the clinical strain C24 were developed and starved by subculture for 170 days in a non-nutrient (NN) broth, unsupplemented or supplemented with one-quarter minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of tobramycin or ciprofloxacin. VBNC cells abundance, estimated as the difference between total live (detected by qPCR and flow cytometry) and colony forming unit (CFU) counts, showed a strain- and drug-specific pattern. A greater and earlier abundance of VBNC PAO1-N cells was detected in all conditions. Exposure of the C24 strain to NN and NN + ciprofloxacin induced only a transient VBNC subpopulation, which was more abundant and stable until the end of the experiment in tobramycin-exposed biofilms. The same response to tobramycin was observed in the PAO1-N strain. These findings suggest that low tobramycin concentrations might contribute to PA infection recurrence by favoring the development of VBNC forms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antimicrobial Resistance of Dormant Bacterial Cells)

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Review

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24 pages, 2786 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

How to Evaluate Non-Growing Cells—Current Strategies for Determining Antimicrobial Resistance of VBNC Bacteria

by Susanne Fleischmann, Christian Robben, Thomas Alter, Peter Rossmanith and Patrick Mester

Antibiotics 2021, 10(2), 115; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/antibiotics10020115 - 26 Jan 2021

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 6642

Abstract

Thanks to the achievements in sanitation, hygiene practices, and antibiotics, we have considerably improved in our ongoing battle against pathogenic bacteria. However, with our increasing knowledge about the complex bacterial lifestyles and cycles and their plethora of defense mechanisms, it is clear that the fight is far from over. One of these resistance mechanisms that has received increasing attention is the ability to enter a dormancy state termed viable but non-culturable (VBNC). Bacteria that enter the VBNC state, either through unfavorable environmental conditions or through potentially lethal stress, lose their ability to grow on standard enrichment media, but show a drastically increased tolerance against antimicrobials including antibiotics. The inability to utilize traditional culture-based methods represents a considerable experimental hurdle to investigate their increased antimicrobial resistance and impedes the development and evaluation of effective treatments or interventions against bacteria in the VBNC state. Although experimental approaches were developed to detect and quantify VBNCs, only a few have been utilized for antimicrobial resistance screening and this review aims to provide an overview of possible methodological approaches. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antimicrobial Resistance of Dormant Bacterial Cells)

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