AUTHOR=Lee James , Zilm Peter S. , Kidd Stephen P. 

TITLE=Novel Research Models for Staphylococcus aureus Small Colony Variants (SCV) Development: Co-pathogenesis and Growth Rate

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00321

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.00321

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> remains a great burden on the healthcare system. Despite prescribed treatments often seemingly to be successful, <italic>S. aureus</italic> can survive and cause a relapsing infection which cannot be cleared. These infections are in part due to quasi-dormant sub-population which is tolerant to antibiotics and able to evade the host immune response. These include Small Colony Variants (SCVs). Because SCVs readily revert to non-SCV cell types under laboratory conditions, the characterization of SCVs has been problematic. This mini-review covers the phenotypic and genetic changes in stable SCVs including the selection of SCVs by and interactions with other bacterial species.</p>