Fig. 7: Transition to persister status results in decreases exposure to stressors and enables survival of harsh conditions in host cells.

Replicating intracellular STM show diverse stress responses in reaction to harsh environmental conditions. Intracellular persistent STM are able to sense and respond to stressors by turning on SRS. The induced stress response of persisters is lower compared to the replicating subpopulation of intracellular STM suggesting that persisters encounter lower exposure to stressors. The transition to a persistent state inside host cells promotes stress tolerance, survival, and dissemination of the pathogen due to re-growth after subsidence of stressful conditions.