E. coli persistence to ofloxacin : single-cell analysis

Orateur : Laurence VAN MELDEREN (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgique)

Persistence refers to the ability of a small subpopulation within an isogenic bacterial population to tolerate high doses of bactericidal antibiotics. Molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain poorly characterized and subject to controversy. The frequency of spontaneous persister cells arising in exponentially growing cultures is very low (10-4), making their observation and analysis quite tedious. We developed an approach coupling microfluidic and fluorescence microscopy to analyze these persister cells at the single-cell level. Comparison between sensitive cells and persisters was performed before the ofloxacin treatment, during the treatment and during the recovery phase, after the removal of the antibiotic. I will discuss the differences observed between sensitive and persister cells during the 3 different phases.

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