Abstract
Mycobacterium smegmatis is an obligate aerobe. However, growth analyses in oxygen-limited liquid cultures have shown that the bacillus is able to survive anoxia with a half-life of 4 days by shifting down to a drug-resistant, dormant state. Metronidazole is the first lead against dormant bacilli and shows selective toxicity for this physiological state. Here, we report a plate-based dormancy culture system employing anoxic jars for M. smegmatis. Its usefulness for the genetic analysis of dormancy was demonstrated by isolating the first metronidazole-resistant mutants. Highly resistant mutants formed slightly yellow (as opposed to creamy) colonies. Furthermore, high-level metronidazole resistance correlated with an increased half-life of 12 days under anoxic conditions. This suggests a link between metronidazole susceptibility and anaerobic survival.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 215-219 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | FEMS Microbiology Letters |
| Volume | 200 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 25 Jun 2001 |
Keywords
- Dormancy
- Drug resistance
- Metronidazole
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