Limited impact of Salmonella stress and persisters on antibiotic clearance

Abstract Antimicrobial compounds are essential for controlling bacterial infections. Stress-induced bacterial tolerance and persisters can undermine antimicrobial activities under laboratory conditions, but their quantitative effects under physiological conditions remain unclear 1,2 . Here we determined constraints on clearance of Salmonella by antimicrobials in infected mice and tissue-mimicking chemostats. The antibiotics enrofloxacin and ceftriaxone exhibited poor anti- Salmonella activity under both conditions, primarily owing to severe nutrient starvation, which restricted Salmonella replication 3–5 . Other infection-associated conditions, such as acidic pH, glucose, oxidative stress, nitrosative stress,…