Persisters are transiently tolerant variants that allow populations to avoid eradication by
antibiotic treatment. Their antibiotic tolerance is non-genetic, not inheritable and results from …

Environmental influences on antibiotic activity and resistance can wreak havoc with in vivo
antibiotic efficacy and, ultimately, antimicrobial chemotherapy. In nature, bacteria encounter …

Phytopathogenic bacteria affect a wide range of crops worldwide and have a negative
impact in agriculture due to their associated economic losses and environmental impacts …

Competition shapes evolution. Toxic metals and metalloids have exerted selective pressure
on life since the rise of the first organisms on the Earth, which has led to the evolution and …

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems were initially discovered as plasmid addiction systems on low-
copy-number plasmids. Thousands of TA loci have since been identified on chromosomes …

Since biofilms are an important issue in the fields of medicine and health, several recent
microbiological studies have focused on their formation and their contribution to toxic …

Background From the point of view of systems biology, the plant is considered a super
organism that consists of the plant per se and numerous populations of pro-and eukaryotic …

Background Recent application of molecular-based technologies has considerably
advanced our understanding of complex processes in plant–pathogen interactions and their …

Xylella fastidiosa is a plant-pathogenic bacterium recently introduced in Europe that is
causing decline in olive trees in the South of Italy. Genetic studies have consistently shown …

Microorganism pathogenicity strongly relies on the generation of multicellular assemblies,
called biofilms. Understanding their organization can unveil vulnerabilities leading to …