We have recently shown that inactivation of any of the multidrug efflux systems of Salmonella results in loss of the ability to form a competent biofilm. The aim of this study was to determine the ...mechanism linking multidrug efflux and biofilm formation, and to determine whether inhibition of efflux is a viable antibiofilm strategy.
Mutants lacking components of the AcrAB-TolC system in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium were investigated for their ability to aggregate, produce biofilm matrix components and form a biofilm. The potential for export of a biofilm-relevant substrate via efflux pumps was investigated and expression of genes that regulate multidrug efflux and production of biofilm matrix components was measured. The ability of efflux inhibitors carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, chlorpromazine and phenyl-arginine-β-naphthylamide to prevent biofilm formation by Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus under static and flow conditions was assessed.
Mutants of Salmonella Typhimurium that lack TolC or AcrB, but surprisingly not AcrA, were compromised in their ability to form biofilms. This defect was not related to changes in cellular hydrophobicity, aggregative ability or export of any biofilm-specific factor. The biofilm defect resulted from transcriptional repression of curli biosynthesis genes and consequent inhibition of production of curli. All three efflux inhibitors significantly reduced biofilm production in both static and flow biofilm assays, although different concentrations of each inhibitor were most active against each species.
This work shows that both genetic inactivation and chemical inhibition of efflux pumps results in transcriptional repression of biofilm matrix components and a lack of biofilm formation. Therefore, inhibition of efflux is a promising antibiofilm strategy.
Objectives Multiply antibiotic-resistant (MAR) mutants of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica are characterized by reduced susceptibility to several unrelated antibiotics, biocides and other ...xenobiotics. Porin loss and/or active efflux have been identified as a key mechanisms of MAR. A single rapid test was developed for MAR. Methods The intracellular accumulation of the fluorescent probe Hoechst (H) 33342 (bisbenzimide) by MAR mutants and those with defined disruptions in efflux pump and porin genes was determined in 96-well plate format. Results The accumulation of H33342 was significantly (P < 0.0001) reduced in MAR mutants of S. enterica serovar Typhimurium (n = 4) and E. coli (n = 3) by 41 ± 8% and 17.3 ± 7.2%, respectively, compared with their parental strains, which was reversed by the transmembrane proton gradient-collapsing agent carbonyl cyanide-m-chlorophenyl hydrazone (CCCP) and the efflux pump inhibitor phenylalanine-arginine-β-naphthylamide (PAβN). The accumulation of H33342 was significantly reduced in mutants of Salmonella Typhimurium with defined disruptions in genes encoding the porins OmpC, OmpF, OmpX and OmpW, but increased in those with disruptions in efflux pump components TolC, AcrB and AcrF. Reduced accumulation of H33342 in three other MAR mutants of Salmonella Typhimurium correlated with the expression of porin and efflux pump proteins. Conclusions The intracellular accumulation of H33342 provided a sensitive and specific test for MAR that is cheap and relatively rapid. Differential sensitivity to CCCP and PAβN provided a further means to phenotypically identify MAR mutants and the role of active efflux in each strain.
Resistance-nodulation-division efflux pumps play a key role in inherent and evolved multidrug resistance in bacteria. AcrB, a prototypical member of this protein family, extrudes a wide range of ...antimicrobial agents out of bacteria. Although high-resolution structures exist for AcrB, its conformational fluctuations and their putative role in function are largely unknown. Here, we determine these structural dynamics in the presence of substrates using hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry, complemented by molecular dynamics simulations, and bacterial susceptibility studies. We show that an efflux pump inhibitor potentiates antibiotic activity by restraining drug-binding pocket dynamics, rather than preventing antibiotic binding. We also reveal that a drug-binding pocket substitution discovered within a multidrug resistant clinical isolate modifies the plasticity of the transport pathway, which could explain its altered substrate efflux. Our results provide insight into the molecular mechanism of drug export and inhibition of a major multidrug efflux pump and the directive role of its dynamics.
The multiple antibiotic resistance (mar) operon of Escherichia coli is a paradigm for chromosomally encoded antibiotic resistance in enteric bacteria. The locus is recognised for its ability to ...modulate efflux pump and porin expression via two encoded transcription factors, MarR and MarA. Here we map binding of these regulators across the E. coli genome and identify an extensive mar regulon. Most notably, MarA activates expression of genes required for DNA repair and lipid trafficking. Consequently, the mar locus reduces quinolone-induced DNA damage and the ability of tetracyclines to traverse the outer membrane. These previously unrecognised mar pathways reside within a core regulon, shared by most enteric bacteria. Hence, we provide a framework for understanding multidrug resistance, mediated by analogous systems, across the Enterobacteriaceae. Transcription factors MarR and MarA confer multidrug resistance in enteric bacteria by modulating efflux pump and porin expression. Here, Sharma et al. show that MarA also upregulates genes required for lipid trafficking and DNA repair, thus reducing antibiotic entry and quinolone-induced DNA damage.
Bacterial multidrug resistance (MDR) efflux pumps are an important mechanism of antibiotic resistance and are required for many pathogens to cause infection. They are also being harnessed to improve ...microbial biotechnological processes, including biofuel production. Therefore, scientists of many specialties must be able to accurately measure efflux activity. However, myriad methodologies have been described and the most appropriate method is not always clear. Within the scientific literature, many methods are misused or data arising are misinterpreted. The methods for measuring efflux activity can be split into two groups, (i) those that directly measure efflux and (ii) those that measure the intracellular accumulation of a substrate, which is then used to infer efflux activity. Here, we review the methods for measuring efflux and explore the most recent advances in this field, including single-cell or cell-free technologies and mass spectrometry, that are being used to provide more detailed information about efflux pump activity.
Abstract
Objectives
Resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae to all gonorrhoea therapeutic antimicrobials has emerged. Novel therapeutic antimicrobials are imperative and the first-in-class ...spiropyrimidinetrione zoliflodacin appears promising. Zoliflodacin could be introduced in dual antimicrobial therapies to prevent the emergence and/or spread of resistance. We investigated the in vitro activity of and selection of resistance to zoliflodacin alone and in combination with six gonorrhoea therapeutic antimicrobials against N. gonorrhoeae.
Methods
The international gonococcal reference strains WHO F (WT) and WHO O, WHO V and WHO X (strains with different AMR profiles) were examined. Zoliflodacin was evaluated alone or combined with ceftriaxone, cefixime, spectinomycin, gentamicin, tetracycline, cethromycin or sitafloxacin in chequerboard assays, time–kill curve analysis and selection-of-resistance studies.
Results
Zoliflodacin alone or in combination with all six antimicrobials showed rapid growth inhibition against all examined strains. The time–kill curve analysis indicated that tetracycline or cethromycin combined with zoliflodacin can significantly decrease the zoliflodacin kill rate in vitro. The frequency of selected zoliflodacin-resistance mutations was low when evaluated as a single agent and further reduced for all antimicrobial combinations. All resistant mutants contained the GyrB mutations D429N, K450T or K450N, resulting in zoliflodacin MICs of 0.5–4 mg/L.
Conclusions
Zoliflodacin, alone or in combination with sexually transmitted infection therapeutic antimicrobials, rapidly kills gonococci with infrequent resistance emergence. Zoliflodacin remains promising for gonorrhoea oral monotherapy and as part of dual antimicrobial therapy with low resistance emergence potential. A Phase III trial evaluating efficacy and safety of zoliflodacin for uncomplicated gonorrhoea treatment is planned in 2019.
Biocides are widely used to prevent infection. We aimed to determine whether exposure of Salmonella to various biocides could act as a driver of antibiotic resistance.
Salmonella enterica serovar ...Typhimurium was exposed to four biocides with differing modes of action. Antibiotic-resistant mutants were selected during exposure to all biocides and characterized phenotypically and genotypically to identify mechanisms of resistance.
All biocides tested selected MDR mutants with decreased antibiotic susceptibility; these occurred randomly throughout the experiments. Mutations that resulted in de-repression of the multidrug efflux pump AcrAB-TolC were seen in MDR mutants. A novel mutation in rpoA was also selected and contributed to the MDR phenotype. Other mutants were highly resistant to both quinolone antibiotics and the biocide triclosan.
This study shows that exposure of bacteria to biocides can select for antibiotic-resistant mutants and this is mediated by clinically relevant mechanisms of resistance prevalent in human pathogens.
Teixobactin is a recently described antibiotic of a new class produced by a hitherto undescribed soil microorganism (provisionally named Eleftheria terrae). It was isolated with a new tool, the ...iChip, that allowed the environmental bacterium to grow and for the antibiotic it produced to be isolated and subsequently identified. Teixobactin has activity against Gram-positive (but not Gram-negative) organisms and mycobacteria and a novel mode of action inhibiting peptidoglycan biosynthesis. In vitro no teixobactin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or Mycobacterium tuberculosis were selected. In experimental infections of MRSA and Streptococcus pneumoniae in mice, teixobactin was effective at reducing the bacterial load. Although teixobactin is at an early stage of development and there are no guarantees it will make it to market, the use of the iChip will hopefully result in the discovery of further potential new antibiotics.
The opportunistic pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii is able to persist in the environment and is often multidrug resistant (MDR), causing difficulties in the treatment of infections. Here, we show ...that the two-component system AdeRS, which regulates the production of the AdeABC multidrug resistance efflux pump, is required for the formation of a protective biofilm in an ex vivo porcine mucosal model, which mimics a natural infection of the human epithelium. Interestingly, deletion of adeB impacted only on the ability of strain AYE to form a biofilm on plastic and only on the virulence of strain Singapore 1 for Galleria mellonella RNA-Seq revealed that loss of AdeRS or AdeB significantly altered the transcriptional landscape, resulting in the changed expression of many genes, notably those associated with antimicrobial resistance and virulence interactions. For example, A. baumannii lacking AdeRS displayed decreased expression of adeABC, pil genes, com genes, and a pgaC-like gene, whereas loss of AdeB resulted in increased expression of pil and com genes and decreased expression of ferric acinetobactin transport system genes. These data define the scope of AdeRS-mediated regulation, show that changes in the production of AdeABC mediate important phenotypes controlled by AdeRS, and suggest that AdeABC is a viable target for antimicrobial drug and antibiofilm discovery corrected.
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