Purging the transcriptome for antibiotic tolerance.

Abstract

In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Nishimoto et al. evolve S. pneumoniae under antibiotics and immune pressure, uncovering drug tolerance mutations, instead of resistance. Increased RNase activity depletes the RNA pool to avert lethal transcriptional collapse, preserving transcript fidelity and enabling a transcriptome reboot when drug subsides.