New insights into the regulatory pathways associated with the activation of the stringent response in bacterial resistance to the PBP2-targeted antibiotics, mecillinam and OP0595/RG6080

Doumith, M., Mushtaq, S., Livermore, D.M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9856-3703 and Woodford, N. (2016) New insights into the regulatory pathways associated with the activation of the stringent response in bacterial resistance to the PBP2-targeted antibiotics, mecillinam and OP0595/RG6080. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 71 (10). pp. 2810-2814. ISSN 0305-7453

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Abstract

Objectives: The diazabicyclooctane β-lactamase inhibitor OP0595 (RG6080) also acts as an antibiotic, targeting PBP2 in Enterobacteriaceae, but this activity is vulnerable to mutational resistance. We used WGS to investigate the basis of this resistance. Methods: Twenty OP0595-selected mutants, comprising four derived from each of five different Escherichia coli strains, were sequenced on Illumina HiSeq. Reads from each mutant were mapped to the assembled genome of the corresponding parent. A variant-calling file generated with Samtools was parsed to determine genetic alterations. Results: Besides OP0595, the mutants consistently showed decreased susceptibility to mecillinam, which likewise targets PBP2, and grew as stable round forms in the presence of subinhibitory concentrations of OP0595. Among the 20 mutants, 18 had alterations in genes encoding tRNA synthase and modification functions liable to induce expression of the RpoS sigma factor through activation of the stringent response or had mutations suppressing inactivators of RpoS or the stringent response signal-degrading enzyme, SpoT. TolB was inactivated in one mutant: this activates RcsBC regulation and was previously associated with mecillinam resistance. The mechanism of resistance remained unidentified in one mutant. Both the RpoS and RcsBC systems regulate genes of cell division, including ftsAQZ that can compensate for loss or inhibition of PBP2, allowing survival of the challenged bacteria as stable round forms, as seen. Conclusions: WGS identified the global stringent response signal, entailing induction of RpoS, as the main mediator of mutational resistance to OP0595 in E. coli.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: enterobacteriaceae,escherichia coli,resistance mechanisms,β-lactams,penicillin binding proteins
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Epidemiology and Public Health
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Public Health and Health Services Research
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Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 26 May 2016 16:00
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2022 01:12
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/59097
DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkw230

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