Monitoring in vivo fitness of rifampicin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus mutants in a mouse biofilm infection model.

Objectives: To investigate in vivo fitness of rifampicin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus mutants in a mouse biofilm model using bioluminescence imaging.

Materials And Methods: S. aureus was engineered with a luciferase operon to emit bioluminescence that can be detected in vivo using an IVIS imaging system.

Noninvasive optical imaging method to evaluate postantibiotic effects on biofilm infection in vivo.

Eradication of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms after rifampin treatment was tested in a mouse model of device-related infection by using biophotonic imaging. Following treatment, the bioluminescent signals decreased to undetectable levels, irrespective of the age of the biofilm. After the final treatment, the signals rebounded in a time-dependent manner and reached those for the untreated mice.