Expression profile for overproduction of DosP. Escherichia coli K-12

Persister cells are a sub-population of all bacterial cultures which exhibit a non-inheritable, multi-drug tolerance when subjected to lethal antibiotic challenge. These persisters arise as a result of metabolic dormancy, and can resume growth subsequent to antibiotic challenge, leading to recalcitrance of bacterial infections. Overproduction of DosP, an oxygen sensing protein with phosphodiesterase activity, increases bacterial persistence. Here we performed a microarray to determine the expression profile induced by DosP as a means to elucidate mechanisms of persister cell formation. Overall design: dosP was overexpressed in Escherichia coli K-12 BW25113 and compared to the empty vector.