Antimicrobial Efficacy against Antibiotic-Tolerant Depends on the Mechanism of Antibiotic Tolerance.

Bacteria can adapt to a changing environment by adopting alternate metabolic states favoring small molecule synthesis and resilience over growth. In , these states are induced by factors present during infection, including nutritional limitations, host responses and competition with other bacteria. Isogenic "tolerant" populations have variable responses to antibiotics and can remain viable.

Distinct Effectiveness of Oritavancin against Tolerance-Induced .

Within a sufficiently large bacterial population, some members will naturally adopt an alternate, metabolically-active state that favors small molecule synthesis over cell division. These isogenic "tolerant" subpopulations have variable responses during antibiotic exposure and can remain viable in the presence of typically bactericidal concentrations. In this study, we determine the ability of typical and atypical antistaphylococcal therapies to reduce the viability of mupirocin-induced tolerant bacteria.