Staphylococcus aureus but not Listeria monocytogenes adapt to triclosan and adaptation correlates with increased fabI expression and agr deficiency

Background The ability of pathogens to adapt to the widely used biocide, triclosan, varies substantially. The purpose of the study was to examine bacterial adaptation over an extended period of time to low increments of triclosan concentrations. Focus was two human pathogens, S. aureus and L. monocytogenes that previously have displayed inherent high and low adaptability, respectively.