Selected Publications
Lawrence R. Mulcahy, Jane L. Burns, Stephen Lory, and Kim Lewis (2010) Emergence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains producing high levels of persister cells in patients with cystic fibrosis. J. Bacteriol. 192(23)6191-99. [PDF]
Kim Lewis (2010) Persister cells. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 64:357-372. [PDF]
Kim Lewis, Slava Epstein, Anthony D'Onofrio and Losee L Ling (2010) Uncultured microorganisms as a source of secondary metabolites. J. Antibiot. 63(8):468-76. [PDF]
Anthony D'Onofrio, Jason M. Crawford, Eric J. Stewart, Kathrin Witt, Ekaterina Gavrish, Slava Epstein, Jon Clardy, Kim Lewis (2010) Siderophores from neighboring organisms promote the growth of uncultured bacteria. Chemistry & Biology. 17(3)256-264. [PDF]
Dörr T, Vulic M, Lewis K (2010) Ciprofloxacin causes persister formation by inducing the TisB toxin in Escherichia coli. PloS Biology. 8(2): e1000317. [PDF]
Michael D. LaFleur, Qingguo Qi, and Kim Lewis. (2010) Patients with long-term oral carriage harbor high-persister mutants of C. albicans. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 54(1): 39–44. [PDF]
Dörr T, Lewis K, Vulic M, (2009) SOS response induces persistence to fluoroquinolones in Escherichia coli. PLoS Genet 5(12):e1000760. [PDF]
Schumacher MA, Piro KM, Xu W, Hansen S, Lewis K, Brennan RG. (2009) Molecular mechanisms of HipA-mediated multidrug tolerance and its neutralization by HipB. Science. 323(5912):396-401. [PDF]
Terence I. Moy, Annie L. Conery, Jonah Larkins-Ford, Gang Wu, Ralph Mazitschek, Gabriele Casadei, Kim Lewis, Anne E. Carpenter and Frederick M. Ausubel (2010) High-throughput screen for novel antimicrobials using a whole animal infection model. ACS Chem. Biol. 4(7)527–33. [PDF]
Lewis, K. (2008) Multidrug tolerance of biofilms and persister cells. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. 322:108-29. [PDF]
Hansen, S. Lewis, K. Vulic, M. (2008) Role of global regulators and nucleotide metabolism in antibiotic tolerance in Escherichia coli. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52(9):2716-26. [PDF]
Lewis, K. (2007) Persister cells, dormancy and infectious disease. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 5:48-56. [PDF]
Lewis, K. and Ausubel, FM. (2006) Prospects for plant-derived antibacterials. Nat. Biotechnol. 24:1504-7. [PDF]
Correia, FF., D’Onofrio, A., Rejtar, T., Li, L., Karger, BL., Makarova, K., Koonin, EV., and Lewis, K. (2006) Kinase activity of overexpressed HipA is required for growth arrest and multidrug tolerance in Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 188:8360-7. [PDF]
Ball, AR., Casadei, G., Samosorn, S., Bremner, JB., Moy, TI., and Lewis, K. (2006) Conjugating berberine to a multidrug efflux pump inhibitor creates an effective antimicrobial. ACS Chem. Biol. 1:594-600. [PDF]
LaFleur, MD., Kumamoto, CA., and Lewis, K. (2006) Candida albicans biofilms produce antifungal-tolerant persister cells. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 50:3839-46. [PDF]
Belofsky, G., Carreno, R., Lewis, K., Ball, A., Casadei, G., and Tegos, G.P. (2006) Metabolites of the ‘Smoke Tree’ Dalea spinosa potentiate antibiotic activity against multi-drug resistant (mdr) Staphylococcus aureus. J. Nat. Prod. Chem. 69:261-4. [PDF]
Moy, T.I., Ball, A.R., Anklesaria, Z., Casadei, G., Lewis, K., and Ausubel F.M. (2006) From the cover:iIdentification of novel antimicrobials using a live-animal infection model. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A. 103:10414-9. [PDF]
Shah, D.V., Zhang, Z., Kurg, K., Kaldalu, N, Khodursky, A, and Lewis, K. (2006) Persisters: A distinct physiological state of E. coli. BMC Microbiol. 6:53. [PDF]
Spoering, A.L., Vulic, M., Lewis, K. (2006) GlpD and PlsB Participate in persister cell formation in Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 188:5136-44. [PDF]
Samosorn, S., Bremner, J.B., Ball A., and Lewis, K. (2006) Synthesis of functionalised 2-aryl-5-nitro-1H-indoles and their activity as bacterial NorA efflux pump inhibitors. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 14:857-865. [PDF]
Milovic, N.M., Wang, J., Lewis, K., and Klibanov, A.M. (2005) Immobilized N-alkylated polyethylenimine avidly kills bacteria by rupturing cell membranes with no resistance developed. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 90:715-722. [PDF]
Lewis, K. and Klibanov, A.M. (2005) Surpassing nature: rational design of sterile-surface materials. Trends Biotechnol. 23:343-248. [PDF]
Lewis, K., Spoering, A., Kaldalu, N., Keren, I., and Shah, D. (2005) Persisters: specialized cells responsible for biofilm tolerance to antimicrobial agents. In Biofilms, Infection, and Antimicrobial Therapy. Pace, J., Rupp, M.E. and Finch, R.G. (eds). Boca Raton, London, New York, Singapore: Taylor & Francis, pp. 241-256.
Keren, I., Shah, D., Spoering, A., Kaldalu, N., and Lewis, K. (2004) Specialized persister cells and the mechanism of multidrug tolerance in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol 186:8172-80. [PDF]
Keren, I., Kaldalu, N., Spoering, A., Wang, Y., and Lewis, K. (2004). Persister cells and tolerance to antimicrobials. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 230:13-18. [PDF]
Kaldalu, N., Mei, R., and Lewis, K. (2004) Killing by ampicillin and ofloxacin induces overlapping changes in Escherichia coli transcription profile. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 48:890-96.
Stermitz, Frank R., Cashman, Kevin K., Halligan, Kathleen M., Morel, Cécile, Tegos, George P., Lewis, Kim (2003) Polyacylated neohesperidosides from Geranium caespitosum: bacterial multidrug resistance pump inhibitors. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters 13. [PDF]
Kaeberlein, T., Lewis, K., and Epstein, S.S. (2002) Isolating "uncultivable" microorganisms in pure culture using a simulated natural environment. Science 296:1127-29. [PDF]
Tiller, J.C., Liao, C.J., Lewis, K., and Klibanov, A.M. (2001) Designing surfaces that kill bacteria on contact. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 22:5981-85.
Spoering, A.L. and Lewis, K. (2001) Biofilms and planktonic cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have similar resistance to killing by antimicrobials. J. Bacteriol. 183:6746-51. [PDF]
Guz, Nathan R., Stermitz, Frank R., Johnson, Jeffrey B., Beeson, Teresa D., Willen, Seth, Hsiang, Jen-Fang, and Lewis, Kim. (2001) Flavonolignan and flavone inhibitors of a Staphylococcus aureus multidrug resistance pump: structure-activity relationships. J. Med. Chem. 44, 261-68. [PDF]
Stermitz, F.R., Lorenz, P., Tawara, J.N., Zenewicz, L., and Lewis, K. (2000) Synergy in a medicinal plant: antimicrobial action of berberine potentiated by 5'-methoxyhydnocarpin, a multidrug pump inhibitor. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:1433-37. [PDF]
Brooun, A., Liu, S., and Lewis, K. (2000) A dose-response study of antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 44:640-46. [PDF]
Brooun, A., Tomashek, J.J., and Lewis, K.(1999) Purification and ligand binding of EmrR, a regulator of a multidrug transporter. J. Bacteriol. 181:5131-33. [PDF]
Lewis, K. (1998) Pathogen resistance as the origin of kin altruism. J. Theor. Biol. 43:359-63.
Hsieh, P.C., Siegel, S.A., Rogers, B., Davis, D., and Lewis, K. (1998) Bacteria lacking a multidrug pump: a sensitive tool for drug discovery. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 95:6602-06. [PDF]
Ferrante, A., Augliera, J., Lewis, K., and Klibanov, M.A. (1995) Cloning of an organic solvent resistance gene in E. coli: the unexpected role of alkylhydroperoxide reductase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:7617-21.
Lomovskaya, O. and Lewis, K. (1992) EMR, an Escherichia coli locus for multidrug resistance. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89: 8938-42.
Papers from the Lewis lab recently featured in the media:
Anthony D'Onofrio, Jason M. Crawford, Eric J. Stewart, Kathrin Witt, Ekaterina Gavrish, Slava Epstein, Jon Clardy, Kim Lewis (2010) Siderophores from neighboring organisms promote the growth of uncultured bacteria. Chemistry & Biology 17(3)256-64. [PDF]
Discover Magazine (2010) Luring Out the Missing Biosphere. Carl Zimmer.
The Scientist (2010) Top 7 Hidden Jewels. Vanessa Schipani.
Small Things Considered (2010) The uncultured bacteria. Kim Lewis.
Microbe, Current Topics (2010) Carol Potera.
Faculty of 1000 Biology (2010) Review. Breck Duerkop and Lora Hooper.
Faculty of 1000 Biology (2010) Review. Harald Labischinski with Will Stubbings.
Dörr T, Vulic M, Lewis K (2010) Ciprofloxacin causes persister formation by inducing the TisB toxin in Escherichia coli. PloS Biology (In Press)
Faculty of 1000 Biology (2010) Review. Daniel Madar and Uri Alon.
Boston Globe (2010) Outwitting germs that never say die. Carolyn Y. Johnson.
Hansen, S. Lewis, K. Vulic, M. (2008) Role of global regulators and nucleotide metabolism in antibiotic tolerance in Escherichia coli. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 52(9):2716-26. [PDF]
Microbe, Current Topics. (2008) Genes underlying bacterial "persister cells" identified. 3:399-400.
Belofsky, G., Carreno, R., Lewis, K., Ball, A., Casadei, G., and Tegos, G.P. (2006) Metabolites of the ‘Smoke Tree’ Dalea spinosa potentiate antibiotic activity against multi-drug resistant (mdr) Staphylococcus aureus. J. Nat. Prod. Chem. 69:261-4. [PDF]
American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP) Newsletter. (2006) Clearing the air on the Smoke Tree, Vol. 42(2). [PDF]
Moy, T.I., Ball, A.R., Anklesaria, Z., Casadei, G., Lewis, K., and Ausubel F.M. (2006) From the cover:iIdentification of novel antimicrobials using a live-animal infection model. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 103:10414-9. [PDF]
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) (July 2006) In the News. Identification of novel antimicrobials using a live-animal infection model.
Nature Reviews: Microbiology, Research Highlights. (August 2006) Anti-infectives Worming a way to better drugs. [PDF]
Nature Biotechnology, Research Highlights. (September 2006) The worm turns for antimicrobial discovery. [PDF]
Kaeberlin, T., Lewis, K., and Epstein, S. S. (2002) Isolating "uncultivable" microorganisms in pure culture using a simulated natural environment. Science 296:1127-29. [PDF]
Science (News) 296:550 (2002)
Lin, J., Tiller, J.C., Lee, S.B., Lewis, K., and Klibanov, A.M. (2002) Insights into bactericidal action of surface-attached poly(vinyl-N-hexylpyridinium) chains. Biotechnol. Lett. 24:801-5. [PDF]
Chem. Engineer. News (2002) 80:22. Surface designed to kill bacteria.
Spoering, A. L. and Lewis, K. (2001) Biofilms and planktonic cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have similar resistance to killing by antimicrobials. J. Bacteriol. 183:6746-51 [PDF]
ASM News Journal Highlights. (January 2002) Persister cells responsible for biofilms' antimicrobial resistance.
Tiller, J.C., Liao, C.J., Lewis, K., and Klibanov, A.M. (2001). Designing surfaces that kill bacteria on contact. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 22:5981-85. [PDF]
Chem. Engineer. News (2001) 79:13. Designed surface kills bacteria.
Chem. Engineer. News (2001) 79:50. Chemistry highlights 2001. Science (News) 159(21):325.
Technology Review (MIT) 104:19 (2001)
Stermitz, F.R., Lorenz, P., Tawar, J.N., Zenewicz, L., and Lewis, K. (2000). Synergy in a medicinal plant: antimicrobial action of berberine potentiated by 5'-methoxyhydnocarpin, a multidrug pump inhibitor. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:1433-37. [PDF]
Chem. Engineer. News (2000). 78 (8):6-7. Plant may hold key to ultimate antibiotic.
Chem. Engineer. News (2000). 78 (51):24-31. Chemistry highlights 2000.