# | Rank | Similarity | Title + Abs. | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6242 | 0 | 1.0000 | Biological cost in Mycobacterium tuberculosis with mutations in the rpsL, rrs, rpoB, and katG genes. When bacteria develop drug-resistant mutations, there is often an associated biological cost; however, some strains can exhibit low- or no-cost mutations. In the present study, a quantitative resazurin reduction assay was used to measure the biological cost of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates that contained different mutations in the rpsL, rrs, rpoB, and katG genes, and showed different resistance profiles. Biological costs were determined by comparing the growth curves of drug-resistant isolates with drug-susceptible strains. Some strains, such as those with rpoB mutations other than S531L and strains with mutations in all of the studied genes, grew more slowly than did drug-susceptible strains. However, some strains grew more quickly than drug-susceptible strains, such as those that had only the rpsL K43R mutation. Strains with the mutation katG S315T presented heterogeneous biological costs. When analyzed individually, strains with the mutations rpsL43/katG315, rpoB531, and rpoB531/katG315 grew faster than drug-susceptible strains. The results suggest that some strains with the most common mutations correlated to a high resistance toward streptomycin, isoniazid and rifampicin can grow as well as or better than susceptible strains. | 2013 | 23276692 |
| 4490 | 1 | 0.9995 | Mutation analysis of mycobacterial rpoB genes and rifampin resistance using recombinant Mycobacterium smegmatis. Rifampin is a major drug used to treat leprosy and tuberculosis. The rifampin resistance of Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis results from a mutation in the rpoB gene, encoding the β subunit of RNA polymerase. A method for the molecular determination of rifampin resistance in these two mycobacteria would be clinically valuable, but the relationship between the mutations and susceptibility to rifampin must be clarified before its use. Analyses of mutations responsible for rifampin resistance using clinical isolates present some limitations. Each clinical isolate has its own genetic variations in some loci other than rpoB, which might affect rifampin susceptibility. For this study, we constructed recombinant strains of Mycobacterium smegmatis carrying the M. leprae or M. tuberculosis rpoB gene with or without mutation and disrupted their own rpoB genes on the chromosome. The rifampin and rifabutin susceptibilities of the recombinant bacteria were measured to examine the influence of the mutations. The results confirmed that several mutations detected in clinical isolates of these two pathogenic mycobacteria can confer rifampin resistance, but they also suggested that some mutations detected in M. leprae isolates or rifampin-resistant M. tuberculosis isolates are not involved in rifampin resistance. | 2012 | 22252831 |
| 6244 | 2 | 0.9994 | Whole-genome sequencing reveals a link between β-lactam resistance and synthetases of the alarmone (p)ppGpp in Staphylococcus aureus. The overwhelming majority of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clinical isolates exhibit a peculiar heterogeneous resistance to β-lactam antibiotics: in cultures of such strains, the majority of cells display only a low level of methicillin resistance--often close to the MIC breakpoint of susceptible strains. Yet, in the same cultures, subpopulations of bacteria exhibiting very high levels of resistance are also present with variable frequencies, which are characteristic of the particular MRSA lineage. The mechanism of heterogeneous resistance is not understood. We describe here an experimental system for exploring the mechanism of heterogeneous resistance. Copies of the resistance gene mecA cloned into a temperature-sensitive plasmid were introduced into the fully sequenced methicillin-susceptible clinical isolate S. aureus strain 476. Transductants of strain 476 expressed methicillin resistance in a heterogeneous fashion: the great majority of cells showed only low MIC (0.75 μg/ml) for the antibiotic, but a minority population of highly resistant bacteria (MIC >300 μg/ml) was also present with a frequency of ∼10(-4). The genetic backgrounds of the majority and minority cells were compared by whole-genome sequencing: the only differences detectable were two point mutations in relA of the highly resistant minority population of bacteria. The relA gene codes for the synthesis of (p)ppGpp, an effector of the stringent stress response. Titration of (p)ppGpp showed increased amounts of this effector in the highly resistant cells. Involvement of (p)ppGpp synthesis genes may explain some of the perplexing aspects of β-lactam resistance in MRSA, since many environmental and genetic changes can modulate cellular levels of (p)ppGpp. | 2013 | 23659600 |
| 4495 | 3 | 0.9994 | Mutations in the bacterial ribosomal protein l3 and their association with antibiotic resistance. Different groups of antibiotics bind to the peptidyl transferase center (PTC) in the large subunit of the bacterial ribosome. Resistance to these groups of antibiotics has often been linked with mutations or methylations of the 23S rRNA. In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of studies where mutations have been found in the ribosomal protein L3 in bacterial strains resistant to PTC-targeting antibiotics but there is often no evidence that these mutations actually confer antibiotic resistance. In this study, a plasmid exchange system was used to replace plasmid-carried wild-type genes with mutated L3 genes in a chromosomal L3 deletion strain. In this way, the essential L3 gene is available for the bacteria while allowing replacement of the wild type with mutated L3 genes. This enables investigation of the effect of single mutations in Escherichia coli without a wild-type L3 background. Ten plasmid-carried mutated L3 genes were constructed, and their effect on growth and antibiotic susceptibility was investigated. Additionally, computational modeling of the impact of L3 mutations in E. coli was used to assess changes in 50S structure and antibiotic binding. All mutations are placed in the loops of L3 near the PTC. Growth data show that 9 of the 10 mutations were well accepted in E. coli, although some of them came with a fitness cost. Only one of the mutants exhibited reduced susceptibility to linezolid, while five exhibited reduced susceptibility to tiamulin. | 2015 | 25845869 |
| 6265 | 4 | 0.9994 | Fitness costs of fluoroquinolone resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae. The fitness cost of the genes responsible for resistance to fluoroquinolones in clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae were estimated in vitro in a common genetic background. Naturally occurring parC, parE, and gyrA loci containing mutations in the quinolone-resistance-determining regions were introduced by transformation into S. pneumoniae strain R6 individually and in combinations. The fitness of these transformants was estimated by pairwise competition experiments with a common R6 strain. On average, single par and gyr mutants responsible for low-level MIC resistance (first-step resistance) impose a fitness burden of approximately 8%. Some of these mutants engender no measurable cost, while one, a parE mutant, reduces the fitness of these bacteria by more than 40%. Most interestingly, the addition of the second par or gyr mutations required for clinically significant, high-MIC fluoroquinolone resistance does not increase the fitness burden imposed by these single genes and can even reduce it. We discuss the implications of these results for the epidemiology of fluoroquinolone resistance and the evolution of acquired resistance in treated patients. | 2007 | 17116668 |
| 8928 | 5 | 0.9994 | Increased survival of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli inside macrophages. Mutations causing antibiotic resistance usually incur a fitness cost in the absence of antibiotics. The magnitude of such costs is known to vary with the environment. Little is known about the fitness effects of antibiotic resistance mutations when bacteria confront the host's immune system. Here, we study the fitness effects of mutations in the rpoB, rpsL, and gyrA genes, which confer resistance to rifampin, streptomycin, and nalidixic acid, respectively. These antibiotics are frequently used in the treatment of bacterial infections. We measured two important fitness traits-growth rate and survival ability-of 12 Escherichia coli K-12 strains, each carrying a single resistance mutation, in the presence of macrophages. Strikingly, we found that 67% of the mutants survived better than the susceptible bacteria in the intracellular niche of the phagocytic cells. In particular, all E. coli streptomycin-resistant mutants exhibited an intracellular advantage. On the other hand, 42% of the mutants incurred a high fitness cost when the bacteria were allowed to divide outside of macrophages. This study shows that single nonsynonymous changes affecting fundamental processes in the cell can contribute to prolonged survival of E. coli in the context of an infection. | 2013 | 23089747 |
| 3805 | 6 | 0.9994 | De Novo Characterization of Genes That Contribute to High-Level Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Escherichia coli. Sensitization of resistant bacteria to existing antibiotics depends on the identification of candidate targets whose activities contribute to resistance. Using a transposon insertion library in an Escherichia coli mutant that was 2,000 times less susceptible to ciprofloxacin than its parent and the relative fitness scores, we identified 19 genes that contributed to the acquired ciprofloxacin resistance and mapped the shortest genetic path that increased the antibiotic susceptibility of the resistant bacteria back to a near wild-type level. | 2016 | 27431218 |
| 6319 | 7 | 0.9994 | Unstable tandem gene amplification generates heteroresistance (variation in resistance within a population) to colistin in Salmonella enterica. Heteroresistance, a phenomenon where subpopulations of a bacterial isolate exhibit different susceptibilities to an antibiotic, is a growing clinical problem where the underlying genetic mechanisms in most cases remain unknown. We isolated colistin resistant mutants in Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium at different concentrations of colistin. Genetic analysis showed that genetically stable pmrAB point mutations were responsible for colistin resistance during selection at high drug concentrations for both species and at low concentrations for E. coli. In contrast, for S. Typhimurium mutants selected at low colistin concentrations, amplification of different large chromosomal regions conferred a heteroresistant phenotype. All amplifications included the pmrD gene, which encodes a positive regulator that up-regulates proteins that modify lipid A, and as a result increase colistin resistance. Inactivation and over-expression of the pmrD gene prevented and conferred resistance, respectively, demonstrating that the PmrD protein is required and sufficient to confer resistance. The heteroresistance phenotype is explained by the variable gene dosage of pmrD in a population, where sub-populations with different copy number of the pmrD gene show different levels of colistin resistance. We propose that variability in gene copy number of resistance genes can explain the heteroresistance observed in clinically isolated pathogenic bacteria. | 2016 | 27381382 |
| 4815 | 8 | 0.9994 | The high prevalence of antibiotic heteroresistance in pathogenic bacteria is mainly caused by gene amplification. When choosing antibiotics to treat bacterial infections, it is assumed that the susceptibility of the target bacteria to an antibiotic is reflected by laboratory estimates of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) needed to prevent bacterial growth. A caveat of using MIC data for this purpose is heteroresistance, the presence of a resistant subpopulation in a main population of susceptible cells. We investigated the prevalence and mechanisms of heteroresistance in 41 clinical isolates of the pathogens Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii against 28 different antibiotics. For the 766 bacteria-antibiotic combinations tested, as much as 27.4% of the total was heteroresistant. Genetic analysis demonstrated that a majority of heteroresistance cases were unstable, with an increased resistance of the subpopulations resulting from spontaneous tandem amplifications, typically including known resistance genes. Using mathematical modelling, we show how heteroresistance in the parameter range estimated in this study can result in the failure of antibiotic treatment of infections with bacteria that are classified as antibiotic susceptible. The high prevalence of heteroresistance with the potential for treatment failure highlights the limitations of MIC as the sole criterion for susceptibility determinations. These results call for the development of facile and rapid protocols to identify heteroresistance in pathogens. | 2019 | 30742072 |
| 6268 | 9 | 0.9994 | Molecular analysis of cross-resistance to capreomycin, kanamycin, amikacin, and viomycin in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Capreomycin, kanamycin, amikacin, and viomycin are drugs that are used to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Each inhibits translation, and cross-resistance to them is a concern during therapy. A recent study revealed that mutation of the tlyA gene, encoding a putative rRNA methyltransferase, confers capreomycin and viomycin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. Mutations in the 16S rRNA gene (rrs) have been associated with resistance to each of the drugs; however, reports of cross-resistance to the drugs have been variable. We investigated the role of rrs mutations in capreomycin resistance and examined the molecular basis of cross-resistance to the four drugs in M. tuberculosis laboratory-generated mutants and clinical isolates. Spontaneous mutants were generated to the drugs singularly and in combination by plating on medium containing one or two drugs. The frequencies of recovery of the mutants on single- and dual-drug plates were consistent with single-step mutations. The rrs genes of all mutants were sequenced, and the tlyA genes were sequenced for mutants selected on capreomycin, viomycin, or both; MICs of all four drugs were determined. Three rrs mutations (A1401G, C1402T, and G1484T) were found, and each was associated with a particular cross-resistance pattern. Similar mutations and cross-resistance patterns were found in drug-resistant clinical isolates. Overall, the data implicate rrs mutations as a molecular basis for resistance to each of the four drugs. Furthermore, the genotypic and phenotypic differences seen in the development of cross-resistance when M. tuberculosis bacteria were exposed to one or two drugs have implications for selection of treatment regimens. | 2005 | 16048924 |
| 5081 | 10 | 0.9994 | Real-time PCR screening for 16S rRNA mutations associated with resistance to tetracycline in Helicobacter pylori. The effectiveness of recommended first-line therapies for Helicobacter pylori infections is decreasing due to the occurrence of resistance to metronidazole and/or clarithromycin. Quadruple therapies, which include tetracycline and a bismuth salt, are useful alternative regimens. However, resistance to tetracycline, mainly caused by mutations in the 16S rRNA genes (rrnA and rrnB) affecting nucleotides 926 to 928, are already emerging and can impair the efficacies of such second-line regimens. Here, we describe a novel real-time PCR for the detection of 16S rRNA gene mutations associated with tetracycline resistance. Our PCR method was able to distinguish between wild-type strains and resistant strains exhibiting single-, double, or triple-base-pair mutations. The method was applicable both to DNA extracted from pure cultures and to DNA extracted from fresh or frozen H. pylori-infected gastric biopsy samples. We therefore conclude that this real-time PCR is an excellent method for determination of H. pylori tetracycline resistance even when live bacteria are no longer available. | 2005 | 16048919 |
| 4720 | 11 | 0.9994 | Augmentation of antibiotic resistance in Salmonella typhimurium DT104 following exposure to penicillin derivatives. Antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria has been a problem in both developed and developing countries. This problem is especially evident in Salmonella typhimurium, one of the most prevalent foodborne pathogens. While performing in vitro gentamicin protection-based invasion assays, we found that certain isolates of multiresistant S. typhimurium can be 'induced' to exhibit new resistance profiles. That is, bacteria become resistant to a wider range of antibiotics and they also exhibit quantitative increases in MIC values for antibiotics that were part of their pre-induction antibiograms. This 'induction' process involves growing the bacteria to stationary phase in the presence of antibiotics such as ampicillin, amoxicillin or ticarcillin. Since the isolates studied exhibited resistance to ampicillin, amoxicillin and ticarcillin prior to exposing the bacteria to these antibiotics, the observed phenomenon suggests that resistant Salmonella not only have a selective advantage over non-resistant Salmonella but their resistance phenotypes can be accentuated when an inappropriate antibiotic is used therapeutically. | 2000 | 10731615 |
| 6277 | 12 | 0.9994 | A large-scale whole-genome comparison shows that experimental evolution in response to antibiotics predicts changes in naturally evolved clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes a wide range of acute and chronic infections. An increasing number of isolates have mutations that make them antibiotic resistant, making treatment difficult. To identify resistance-associated mutations we experimentally evolved the antibiotic sensitive strain P. aeruginosa PAO1 to become resistant to three widely used anti-pseudomonal antibiotics, ciprofloxacin, meropenem and tobramycin. Mutants could tolerate up to 2048-fold higher concentrations of antibiotic than strain PAO1. Genome sequences were determined for thirteen mutants for each antibiotic. Each mutant had between 2 and 8 mutations. For each antibiotic at least 8 genes were mutated in multiple mutants, demonstrating the genetic complexity of resistance. For all three antibiotics mutations arose in genes known to be associated with resistance, but also in genes not previously associated with resistance. To determine the clinical relevance of mutations uncovered in this study we analysed the corresponding genes in 558 isolates of P. aeruginosa from patients with chronic lung disease and in 172 isolates from the general environment. Many genes identified through experimental evolution had predicted function-altering changes in clinical isolates but not in environmental isolates, showing that mutated genes in experimentally evolved bacteria can predict those that undergo mutation during infection. Additionally, large deletions of up to 479kb arose in experimentally evolved meropenem resistant mutants and large deletions were present in 87 of the clinical isolates. These findings significantly advance understanding of antibiotic resistance in P. aeruginosa and demonstrate the validity of experimental evolution in identifying clinically-relevant resistance-associated mutations. | 2019 | 31570397 |
| 6263 | 13 | 0.9994 | Gene-Gene Interactions Dictate Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Facilitate Prediction of Resistance Phenotype from Genome Sequence Data. Ciprofloxacin is one of the most widely used antibiotics for treating Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. However, P. aeruginosa acquires mutations that confer ciprofloxacin resistance, making treatment more difficult. Resistance is multifactorial, with mutations in multiple genes influencing the resistance phenotype. However, the contributions of individual mutations and mutation combinations to the amounts of ciprofloxacin that P. aeruginosa can tolerate are not well understood. Engineering P. aeruginosa strain PAO1 to contain mutations in any one of the resistance-associated genes gyrA, nfxB, rnfC, parC, and parE showed that only gyrA mutations increased the MIC for ciprofloxacin. Mutations in parC and parE increased the MIC of a gyrA mutant, making the bacteria ciprofloxacin resistant. Mutations in nfxB and rnfC increased the MIC, conferring resistance, only if both were mutated in a gyrA background. Mutations in all of gyrA, nfxB, rnfC, and parC/E further increased the MIC. These findings reveal an epistatic network of gene-gene interactions in ciprofloxacin resistance. We used this information to predict ciprofloxacin resistance/susceptibility for 274 isolates of P. aeruginosa from their genome sequences. Antibiotic susceptibility profiles were predicted correctly for 84% of the isolates. The majority of isolates for which prediction was unsuccessful were ciprofloxacin resistant, demonstrating the involvement of additional as yet unidentified genes and mutations in resistance. Our data show that gene-gene interactions can play an important role in antibiotic resistance and can be successfully incorporated into models predicting resistance phenotype. | 2021 | 33875431 |
| 4395 | 14 | 0.9994 | Whole-genome sequencing of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains identifies compensatory mutations in RNA polymerase genes. Epidemics of drug-resistant bacteria emerge worldwide, even as resistant strains frequently have reduced fitness compared to their drug-susceptible counterparts. Data from model systems suggest that the fitness cost of antimicrobial resistance can be reduced by compensatory mutations; however, there is limited evidence that compensatory evolution has any significant role in the success of drug-resistant bacteria in human populations. Here we describe a set of compensatory mutations in the RNA polymerase genes of rifampicin-resistant M. tuberculosis, the etiologic agent of human tuberculosis (TB). M. tuberculosis strains harboring these compensatory mutations showed a high competitive fitness in vitro. Moreover, these mutations were associated with high fitness in vivo, as determined by examining their relative clinical frequency across patient populations. Of note, in countries with the world's highest incidence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB, more than 30% of MDR clinical isolates had this form of mutation. Our findings support a role for compensatory evolution in the global epidemics of MDR TB. | 2011 | 22179134 |
| 8994 | 15 | 0.9994 | Bacteria can compensate the fitness costs of amplified resistance genes via a bypass mechanism. Antibiotic heteroresistance is a phenotype in which a susceptible bacterial population includes a small subpopulation of cells that are more resistant than the main population. Such resistance can arise by tandem amplification of DNA regions containing resistance genes that in single copy are not sufficient to confer resistance. However, tandem amplifications often carry fitness costs, manifested as reduced growth rates. Here, we investigated if and how these fitness costs can be genetically ameliorated. We evolved four clinical isolates of three bacterial species that show heteroresistance to tobramycin, gentamicin and tetracyclines at increasing antibiotic concentrations above the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the main susceptible population. This led to a rapid enrichment of resistant cells with up to an 80-fold increase in the resistance gene copy number, an increased MIC, and severely reduced growth rates. When further evolved in the presence of antibiotic, these strains acquired compensatory resistance mutations and showed a reduction in copy number while maintaining high-level resistance. A deterministic model indicated that the loss of amplified units was driven mainly by their fitness costs and that the compensatory mutations did not affect the loss rate of the gene amplifications. Our findings suggest that heteroresistance mediated by copy number changes can facilitate and precede the evolution towards stable resistance. | 2024 | 38485998 |
| 8930 | 16 | 0.9994 | Repeated Exposure of Escherichia coli to High Ciprofloxacin Concentrations Selects gyrB Mutants That Show Fluoroquinolone-Specific Hyperpersistence. Recent studies have shown that not only resistance, but also tolerance/persistence levels can evolve rapidly in bacteria exposed to repeated antibiotic treatments. We used in vitro evolution to assess whether tolerant/hyperpersistent Escherichia coli ATCC25922 mutants could be selected under repeated exposure to a high ciprofloxacin concentration. Among two out of three independent evolution lines, we observed the emergence of gyrB mutants showing an hyperpersistence phenotype specific to fluoroquinolones, but no significant MIC increase. The identified mutation gives rise to a L422P substitution in GyrB, that is, outside of the canonical GyrB QRDR. Our results indicate that mutations in overlooked regions of quinolone target genes may impair the efficacy of treatments via an increase of persistence rather than resistance level, and support the idea that, in addition to resistance, phenotypes of tolerance/persistence of infectious bacterial strains should receive considerations in the choice of antibiotic therapies. | 2022 | 35707170 |
| 6250 | 17 | 0.9994 | High prevalence of heteroresistance in Staphylococcus aureus is caused by a multitude of mutations in core genes. Heteroresistance (HR) is an enigmatic phenotype where, in a main population of susceptible cells, small subpopulations of resistant cells exist. This is a cause for concern, as this small subpopulation is difficult to detect by standard antibiotic susceptibility tests, and upon antibiotic exposure the resistant subpopulation may increase in frequency and potentially lead to treatment complications or failure. Here, we determined the prevalence and mechanisms of HR for 40 clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates, against 6 clinically important antibiotics: daptomycin, gentamicin, linezolid, oxacillin, teicoplanin, and vancomycin. High frequencies of HR were observed for gentamicin (69.2%), oxacillin (27%), daptomycin (25.6%), and teicoplanin (15.4%) while none of the isolates showed HR toward linezolid or vancomycin. Point mutations in various chromosomal core genes, including those involved in membrane and peptidoglycan/teichoic acid biosynthesis and transport, tRNA charging, menaquinone and chorismite biosynthesis and cyclic-di-AMP biosynthesis, were the mechanisms responsible for generating the resistant subpopulations. This finding is in contrast to gram-negative bacteria, where increased copy number of bona fide resistance genes via tandem gene amplification is the most prevalent mechanism. This difference can be explained by the observation that S. aureus has a low content of resistance genes and absence of the repeat sequences that allow tandem gene amplification of these genes as compared to gram-negative species. | 2024 | 38175839 |
| 8927 | 18 | 0.9994 | Changes in Intrinsic Antibiotic Susceptibility during a Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli. High-level resistance often evolves when populations of bacteria are exposed to antibiotics, by either mutations or horizontally acquired genes. There is also variation in the intrinsic resistance levels of different bacterial strains and species that is not associated with any known history of exposure. In many cases, evolved resistance is costly to the bacteria, such that resistant types have lower fitness than their progenitors in the absence of antibiotics. Some longer-term studies have shown that bacteria often evolve compensatory changes that overcome these tradeoffs, but even those studies have typically lasted only a few hundred generations. In this study, we examine changes in the susceptibilities of 12 populations of Escherichia coli to 15 antibiotics after 2,000 and 50,000 generations without exposure to any antibiotic. On average, the evolved bacteria were more susceptible to most antibiotics than was their ancestor. The bacteria at 50,000 generations tended to be even more susceptible than after 2,000 generations, although most of the change occurred during the first 2,000 generations. Despite the general trend toward increased susceptibility, we saw diverse outcomes with different antibiotics. For streptomycin, which was the only drug to which the ancestral strain was highly resistant, none of the evolved lines showed any increased susceptibility. The independently evolved lineages often exhibited correlated responses to the antibiotics, with correlations usually corresponding to their modes of action. On balance, our study shows that bacteria with low levels of intrinsic resistance often evolve to become even more susceptible to antibiotics in the absence of corresponding selection.IMPORTANCE Resistance to antibiotics often evolves when bacteria encounter antibiotics. However, bacterial strains and species without any known exposure to these drugs also vary in their intrinsic susceptibility. In many cases, evolved resistance has been shown to be costly to the bacteria, such that resistant types have reduced competitiveness relative to their sensitive progenitors in the absence of antibiotics. In this study, we examined changes in the susceptibilities of 12 populations of Escherichia coli to 15 antibiotics after 2,000 and 50,000 generations without exposure to any drug. The evolved bacteria tended to become more susceptible to most antibiotics, with most of the change occurring during the first 2,000 generations, when the bacteria were undergoing rapid adaptation to their experimental conditions. On balance, our findings indicate that bacteria with low levels of intrinsic resistance can, in the absence of relevant selection, become even more susceptible to antibiotics. | 2019 | 30837336 |
| 5761 | 19 | 0.9994 | The Effects of Sub-inhibitory Antibiotic Concentrations on Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Reduced Susceptibility Due to Mutations. Pseudomonas aeruginosa chronically infects in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis and other forms of lung disease. Infections are treated with antibiotics, but over time, the bacteria acquire mutations that reduce their antibiotic susceptibility. The effects of inhibitory amounts of antibiotics in selecting for antibiotic-resistant mutants have been well studied. However, the concentrations of antibiotics that reach infecting bacteria can be sub-inhibitory and but may nonetheless promote emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the effects of sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics on the antibiotic susceptibility of P. aeruginosa. Two P. aeruginosa reference strains, PAO1 and PA14, and six isolates from individuals with cystic fibrosis were studied. The bacteria were passaged in the presence of antibiotics (ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, meropenem or tobramycin) at sub-inhibitory amounts. Fifteen populations of bacteria (up to five per strain) were exposed to each of the four antibiotics. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined following 10 passages on agar supplemented with antibiotic and compared with susceptibility prior to antibiotic exposure. Antibiotic exposure resulted in susceptibility being significantly (>2-fold) reduced for 13 of the 60 populations. Seven samples had reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, three to tobramycin, two to ceftazidime and one to meropenem. Whole-genome sequencing revealed the mutations arising following antibiotic exposure. Mutants with reduced antibiotic susceptibility had mutations in genes known to affect antibiotic resistance, including regulators of efflux pumps (mexR, mexS, mexZ and nalC) and the fusA1 gene that is associated with aminoglycoside resistance. Genes not previously associated with resistance, including gacS, sigX and crfX and two genes with no known function, were also mutated in some isolates with reduced antibiotic susceptibility. Our results show that exposure to sub-inhibitory amounts of antibiotics can select for mutations that reduce the susceptibility of P. aeruginosa to antibiotics and that the profile of mutations is different from that arising during selection with inhibitory antibiotic concentrations. It is likely that exposure to sub-inhibitory amounts of antibiotics during infection contributes to P. aeruginosa becoming antibiotic-resistant. | 2021 | 34987489 |