Plausible role of bacterial toxin –antitoxin system in persister cell formation and elimination

Targeting toxin ‐antitoxin systems for elimination of persisters:Under the influence of several micro‐environmental factors (temperature, pH etc…), the antitoxin component gets degraded resulting in a proportionate increase of toxin levels (T> A) that induces the formation of persister bacteria (red colour). On three varying conditions (Conditional cooperativity, Cellular detoxification and Use of toxin inhibitors), the antitoxin level becomes high (A> T) resulting in awakening of persister bacteria. After regrowth of persisters (green colour), antimicrobials can be applied to eliminate these pathogens. Although, a large proportion of pathogenic bacteria gets eliminated from hosts after antibiotic treatment, a fraction of population confronts against such effects and undergoes growth arrest to form persisters. Persistence in bacteria is a dormant physiological state where cells escape the effects of antimicrobials as well as other host immune defences without any genetic mutations. The state of dormancy is achieved through various complex phenomena and it is known that a gene pair named as toxin –antitoxin (TA) acts as a key player of persister cell formation where the toxin is activated either stochastically or after an environmental insult, thereby silencing the physiological processes. However, the controversial role of TA modules in persister cell formation has also been documented wi th reasonable clarity. Persisters may revert back from state of quiescence...
Source: Molecular Oral Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: REVIEW ARTICLE Source Type: research