Michael J. Benedik

The paper shows that cells with low ribosome content form persister cells 80-fold more frequently than average, indicating persister formation is inversely related to ribosome abundance.

The paper identifies PinR, a serine recombinase in E. coli, which inverts prophage DNA to block T2 phage infection by creating a protein that prevents phage receptor binding.

This study shows bacteria can survive phage infection through mutation or by forming persisters, which survive without mutation and retain wild-type phage sensitivity.

This study shows that CRISPR-Cas in E. coli is active and suppresses cryptic prophages through RNAi, preventing cell death and persister cell resuscitation.