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Lookup NU author(s): George MercesORCiD, Dom Alderson, Dr Adam WollmanORCiD, Professor Mark GeogheganORCiD, Dr Chien-Yi ChangORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Polymyxin antibiotics target lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in Gram-negative bacteria, but persistence and mcr-mediated resistance increasingly compromise their therapeutic efficacy. Here, we use super-resolution localisation microscopy to investigate the nanoscale organisation of LPS and membrane lipids in colistin-persistent Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We find that persister cells exhibit heterogeneous LPS and membrane lipid distributions, with localised LPS clustering along the cell envelope, compared to susceptible cells. Unexpectedly, mcr-1-positive E. coli displays a similar LPS clustering phenotype to that of persisters, without altering membrane organisation. These findings suggest that both persistence and resistance involve envelope reorganisation, with increased LPS clustering and remodelling observed in both E. coli and P. aeruginosa. This work reveals a morphological signature of persistence and identifies a shared feature between persistence and resistance in Gram-negative bacteria
Author(s): Wang F, Merces G, Alderson D, Wollman AJM, Geoghegan M, Chang CY
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: npc Antimicrobials and Resistance
Year: 2025
Volume: 3
Online publication date: 27/10/2025
Acceptance date: 24/09/2025
Date deposited: 02/03/2026
ISSN (electronic): 2731-8745
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44259-025-00158-4
DOI: 10.1038/s44259-025-00158-4
Data Access Statement: Statistical data acquired by microbiological and dSTORM experiments for preparing figures and supplementary information were deposited at the Figshare open access repository (https://figshare.com/s/ aefe77e1a8212e81bac5). Other data supporting the findings of this study, such as raw dSTORMrecording data, are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. ImageJ Macro code and R Code for image processing/analysis is available on GitHub (https://github.com/NCLImageAnalysis/LPS-Distribution-in-Colistin-Persisters-Differs-fromSusceptible-Bacteria/tree/main).
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