---
_id: '665'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: The molecular mechanisms underlying phenotypic variation in isogenic bacterial
    populations remain poorly understood.We report that AcrAB-TolC, the main multidrug
    efflux pump of Escherichia coli, exhibits a strong partitioning bias for old cell
    poles by a segregation mechanism that is mediated by ternary AcrAB-TolC complex
    formation. Mother cells inheriting old poles are phenotypically distinct and display
    increased drug efflux activity relative to daughters. Consequently, we find systematic
    and long-lived growth differences between mother and daughter cells in the presence
    of subinhibitory drug concentrations. A simple model for biased partitioning predicts
    a population structure of long-lived and highly heterogeneous phenotypes. This
    straightforward mechanism of generating sustained growth rate differences at subinhibitory
    antibiotic concentrations has implications for understanding the emergence of
    multidrug resistance in bacteria.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Tobias
  full_name: Bergmiller, Tobias
  id: 2C471CFA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Bergmiller
  orcid: 0000-0001-5396-4346
- first_name: Anna M
  full_name: Andersson, Anna M
  id: 2B8A40DA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Andersson
  orcid: 0000-0003-2912-6769
- first_name: Kathrin
  full_name: Tomasek, Kathrin
  id: 3AEC8556-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Tomasek
  orcid: 0000-0003-3768-877X
- first_name: Enrique
  full_name: Balleza, Enrique
  last_name: Balleza
- first_name: Daniel
  full_name: Kiviet, Daniel
  last_name: Kiviet
- first_name: Robert
  full_name: Hauschild, Robert
  id: 4E01D6B4-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Hauschild
  orcid: 0000-0001-9843-3522
- first_name: Gasper
  full_name: Tkacik, Gasper
  id: 3D494DCA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Tkacik
  orcid: 0000-0002-6699-1455
- first_name: Calin C
  full_name: Guet, Calin C
  id: 47F8433E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Guet
  orcid: 0000-0001-6220-2052
citation:
  ama: Bergmiller T, Andersson AM, Tomasek K, et al. Biased partitioning of the multidrug
    efflux pump AcrAB TolC underlies long lived phenotypic heterogeneity. <i>Science</i>.
    2017;356(6335):311-315. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf4762">10.1126/science.aaf4762</a>
  apa: Bergmiller, T., Andersson, A. M., Tomasek, K., Balleza, E., Kiviet, D., Hauschild,
    R., … Guet, C. C. (2017). Biased partitioning of the multidrug efflux pump AcrAB
    TolC underlies long lived phenotypic heterogeneity. <i>Science</i>. American Association
    for the Advancement of Science. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf4762">https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf4762</a>
  chicago: Bergmiller, Tobias, Anna M Andersson, Kathrin Tomasek, Enrique Balleza,
    Daniel Kiviet, Robert Hauschild, Gašper Tkačik, and Calin C Guet. “Biased Partitioning
    of the Multidrug Efflux Pump AcrAB TolC Underlies Long Lived Phenotypic Heterogeneity.”
    <i>Science</i>. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2017. <a
    href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf4762">https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf4762</a>.
  ieee: T. Bergmiller <i>et al.</i>, “Biased partitioning of the multidrug efflux
    pump AcrAB TolC underlies long lived phenotypic heterogeneity,” <i>Science</i>,
    vol. 356, no. 6335. American Association for the Advancement of Science, pp. 311–315,
    2017.
  ista: Bergmiller T, Andersson AM, Tomasek K, Balleza E, Kiviet D, Hauschild R, Tkačik
    G, Guet CC. 2017. Biased partitioning of the multidrug efflux pump AcrAB TolC
    underlies long lived phenotypic heterogeneity. Science. 356(6335), 311–315.
  mla: Bergmiller, Tobias, et al. “Biased Partitioning of the Multidrug Efflux Pump
    AcrAB TolC Underlies Long Lived Phenotypic Heterogeneity.” <i>Science</i>, vol.
    356, no. 6335, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2017, pp.
    311–15, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf4762">10.1126/science.aaf4762</a>.
  short: T. Bergmiller, A.M. Andersson, K. Tomasek, E. Balleza, D. Kiviet, R. Hauschild,
    G. Tkačik, C.C. Guet, Science 356 (2017) 311–315.
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:47:48Z
date_published: 2017-04-21T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-09-11T07:05:04Z
day: '21'
department:
- _id: CaGu
- _id: GaTk
- _id: Bio
doi: 10.1126/science.aaf4762
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000399540100060'
intvolume: '       356'
isi: 1
issue: '6335'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '04'
oa_version: None
page: 311 - 315
project:
- _id: 254E9036-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
  call_identifier: FWF
  grant_number: P28844-B27
  name: Biophysics of information processing in gene regulation
publication: Science
publication_identifier:
  issn:
  - 0036-8075
publication_status: published
publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
publist_id: '7064'
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
  record:
  - id: '5560'
    relation: popular_science
    status: public
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Biased partitioning of the multidrug efflux pump AcrAB TolC underlies long
  lived phenotypic heterogeneity
type: journal_article
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
volume: 356
year: '2017'
...