TY - JOUR
T1 - Growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis biofilms containing free mycolic acids and harbouring drug-tolerant bacteria
AU - Ojha, Anil K.
AU - Baughn, Anthony D.
AU - Sambandan, Dhinakaran
AU - Hsu, Tsungda
AU - Trivelli, Xavier
AU - Guerardel, Yann
AU - Alahari, Anuradha
AU - Kremer, Laurent
AU - Jacobs, William R.
AU - Hatfull, Graham F.
PY - 2008/7
Y1 - 2008/7
N2 - Successful treatment of human tuberculosis requires 6-9 months' therapy with multiple antibiotics. Incomplete clearance of tubercle bacilli frequently results in disease relapse, presumably as a result of reactivation of persistent drug-tolerant Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells, although the nature and location of these persisters are not known. In other pathogens, antibiotic tolerance is often associated with the formation of biofilms - organized communities of surface-attached cells - but physiologically and genetically defined M. tuberculosis biofilms have not been described. Here, we show that M. tuberculosis forms biofilms with specific environmental and genetic requirements distinct from those for planktonic growth, which contain an extracellular matrix rich in free mycolic acids, and harbour an important drug-tolerant population that persist despite exposure to high levels of antibiotics.
AB - Successful treatment of human tuberculosis requires 6-9 months' therapy with multiple antibiotics. Incomplete clearance of tubercle bacilli frequently results in disease relapse, presumably as a result of reactivation of persistent drug-tolerant Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells, although the nature and location of these persisters are not known. In other pathogens, antibiotic tolerance is often associated with the formation of biofilms - organized communities of surface-attached cells - but physiologically and genetically defined M. tuberculosis biofilms have not been described. Here, we show that M. tuberculosis forms biofilms with specific environmental and genetic requirements distinct from those for planktonic growth, which contain an extracellular matrix rich in free mycolic acids, and harbour an important drug-tolerant population that persist despite exposure to high levels of antibiotics.
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06274.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06274.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 18466296
AN - SCOPUS:45149110879
SN - 0950-382X
VL - 69
SP - 164
EP - 174
JO - Molecular Microbiology
JF - Molecular Microbiology
IS - 1
ER -