Dead bacterial absorption of antimicrobial peptides underlies collective tolerance

The collective tolerance towards antimicrobial peptides (APs) is thought to occur primarily through mechanisms associated with live bacterial cells. In contrast to the focus on live cells, we discover that the LL37 antimicrobial peptide kills a subpopulation of Escherichia coli , forming dead cells that absorb the remaining LL37 from the environment. Combining mathematical modelling with population and single-cell experiments, we show that...