| 1. |
- Bartke, Katrin, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic Architecture and Fitness of Bacterial Interspecies Hybrids
- 2021
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Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press. - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 38:4, s. 1472-1481
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Integration of a conjugative plasmid into a bacterial chromosome can promote the transfer of chromosomal DNA to other bacteria. Intraspecies chromosomal conjugation is believed responsible for creating the global pathogens Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 and Escherichia coli ST1193. Interspecies conjugation is also possible but little is known about the genetic architecture or fitness of such hybrids. To study this, we generated by conjugation 14 hybrids of E. coli and Salmonella enterica. These species belong to different genera, diverged from a common ancestor >100 Ma, and share a conserved order of orthologous genes with similar to 15% nucleotide divergence. Genomic analysis revealed that all but one hybrid had acquired a contiguous segment of donor E. coli DNA, replacing a homologous region of recipient Salmonella chromosome, and ranging in size from similar to 100 to >4,000 kb. Recombination joints occurred in sequences with higher-than-average nucleotide identity. Most hybrid strains suffered a large reduction in growth rate, but the magnitude of this cost did not correlate with the length of foreign DNA. Compensatory evolution to ameliorate the cost of low-fitness hybrids pointed towards disruption of complex genetic networks as a cause. Most interestingly, 4 of the 14 hybrids, in which from 45% to 90% of the Salmonella chromosome was replaced with E. coli DNA, showed no significant reduction in growth fitness. These data suggest that the barriers to creating high-fitness interspecies hybrids may be significantly lower than generally appreciated with implications for the creation of novel species.
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| 2. |
- Brandis, Gerrit, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Expression of the qepA1 gene is induced under antibiotic exposure
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. - : Oxford University Press. - 0305-7453 .- 1460-2091. ; 76:6, s. 1433-1440
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundThe qepA1 gene encodes an efflux pump that reduces susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. Little is known about the regulation of qepA1 expression.ObjectivesTo assess the potential role of ciprofloxacin and other antibiotics in the regulation of qepA1 gene expression. To identify the promoter that drives qepA1 expression and other factors involved in expression regulation. To assess whether the identified features are universal among qepA alleles.MethodsA translational qepA1-yfp fusion under the control of the qepA1 upstream region was cloned into the Escherichia coli chromosome. Expression of the fusion protein was measured in the presence of various antibiotics. Deletions within the upstream region were introduced to identify regions involved in gene expression and regulation. The qepA1 coding sequence and upstream region were compared with all available qepA sequences.ResultsCellular stress caused by the presence of various antibiotics can induce qepA1 expression. The qepA1 gene is fused to a class I integron and gene expression is driven by the Pc promoter within the integrase gene. A segment within the integron belonging to a truncated dfrB4 gene is essential for the regulation of qepA1 expression. This genetic context is universal among all sequenced qepA alleles.ConclusionsThe fusion of the qepA1 gene to a class I integron has created a novel regulatory unit that enables qepA1 expression to be under the control of antibiotic exposure. This setup mitigates potential negative effects of QepA1 production on bacterial fitness by restricting high-level expression to environmental conditions in which QepA1 is beneficial.
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| 3. |
- Brandis, Gerrit, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Mutant RNA polymerase can reduce susceptibility to antibiotics via ppGpp-independent induction of a stringent-like response
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. - : Oxford University Press. - 0305-7453 .- 1460-2091. ; 76:3, s. 606-615
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundMutations in RNA polymerase (RNAP) can reduce susceptibility to ciprofloxacin in Escherichia coli, but the mechanism of transcriptional reprogramming responsible is unknown. Strains carrying ciprofloxacin-resistant (CipR) rpoB mutations have reduced growth fitness and their impact on clinical resistance development is unclear.ObjectivesTo assess the potential for CipRrpoB mutations to contribute to resistance development by estimating the number of distinct alleles. To identify fitness-compensatory mutations that ameliorate the fitness costs of CipRrpoB mutations. To understand how CipRrpoB mutations reprogramme RNAP.MethodsE. coli strains carrying five different CipRrpoB alleles were evolved with selection for improved fitness and characterized for acquired mutations, relative fitness and MICCip. The effects of dksA mutations and a ppGpp0 background on growth and susceptibility phenotypes associated with CipRrpoB alleles were determined.ResultsThe number of distinct CipRrpoB mutations was estimated to be >100. Mutations in RNAP genes and in dksA can compensate for the fitness cost of CipRrpoB mutations. Deletion of dksA reduced the MICCip for strains carrying CipRrpoB alleles. A ppGpp0 phenotype had no effect on drug susceptibility.ConclusionsCipRrpoB mutations induce an ppGpp-independent stringent-like response. Approximately half of the reduction in ciprofloxacin susceptibility is caused by an increased affinity of RNAP to DksA while the other half is independent of DksA. Stringent-like response activating mutations might be the most diverse class of mutations reducing susceptibility to antibiotics.
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| 4. |
- Cotman, Andrej Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
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Discovery and Hit-to-Lead Optimization of Benzothiazole Scaffold- Based DNA Gyrase Inhibitors with Potent Activity against Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0022-2623 .- 1520-4804. ; 66:2, s. 1380-1425
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have developed compounds with a promising activity against Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aerugi-nosa, which are both on the WHO priority list of antibiotic -resistant bacteria. Starting from DNA gyrase inhibitor 1, we identified compound 27, featuring a 10-fold improved aqueous solubility, a 10-fold improved inhibition of topoisomerase IV from A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa, a 10-fold decreased inhibition of human topoisomerase II alpha, and no cross-resistance to novobiocin. Cocrystal structures of 1 in complex with Escherichia coli GyrB24 and (S)-27 in complex with A. baumannii GyrB23 and P. aeruginosa GyrB24 revealed their binding to the ATP-binding pocket of the GyrB subunit. In further optimization steps, solubility, plasma free fraction, and other ADME properties of 27 were improved by fine-tuning of lipophilicity. In particular, analogs of 27 with retained anti-Gram-negative activity and improved plasma free fraction were identified. The series was found to be nongenotoxic, nonmutagenic, devoid of mitochondrial toxicity, and possessed no ion channel liabilities.
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| 5. |
- Garoff, Linnéa, et al.
(författare)
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Effect of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase mutations on susceptibility to ciprofloxacin in Escherichia coli
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0305-7453 .- 1460-2091. ; 73:12, s. 3285-3292
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Chromosomal mutations that reduce ciprofloxacin susceptibility in Escherichia coli characteristically map to drug target genes (gyrAB and parCE), and genes encoding regulators of the AcrAB-TolC efflux pump. Mutations in RNA polymerase can also reduce susceptibility, by up-regulating the MdtK efflux pump.Objectives: We asked whether mutations in additional chromosomal gene classes could reduce susceptibility to ciprofloxacin.Methods: Experimental evolution, complemented by WGS analysis, was used to select and identify mutations that reduce susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. Transcriptome analysis, genetic reconstructions, susceptibility measurements and competition assays were used to identify significant genes and explore the mechanism of resistance.Results: Mutations in three different aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase genes (leuS, aspS and thrS) were shown to re- duce susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. For two of the genes (leuS and aspS) the mechanism was partially dependent on RelA activity. Two independently selected mutations in leuS (Asp162Asn and Ser496Pro) were studied in most detail, revealing that they induce transcriptome changes similar to a stringent response, including up-regulation of three efflux-associated loci (mdtK, acrZ and ydhJK). Genetic analysis showed that reduced susceptibility depended on the activity of these loci. Broader antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that the leuS mutations also reduce susceptibility to additional classes of antibiotics chloramphenicol, rifampicin, mecillinam, ampicillin and trimethoprim).Conclusions: The identification of mutations in multiple tRNA synthetase genes that reduce susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and other antibiotics reveals the existence of a large mutational target that could contribute to re- sistance development by up-regulation of an array of efflux pumps.
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| 6. |
- Garoff, Linnéa, 1989-
(författare)
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Exploring the Ciprofloxacin Resistome
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis presents an exploration of the resistance evolution in Escherichia coli towards the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. High level ciprofloxacin resistance is typically acquired by an accumulation of mutations and plasmid borne genes reducing drug target binding, increasing drug efflux, and modifying the drug.Paper I describes the finding that novel mutations in tRNA synthetase gene leuS conferred resistance to ciprofloxacin. We also provided evidence for a mechanism, where the leuS mutations induced global changes in transcription that generated a net effect of increased drug efflux.In Paper II we observed that the evolutionary trajectory towards high level ciprofloxacin resistance in E. coli is repeatable and predictable in in vitro evolution experiments. However, the types and order of appearance of selected mutations was highly dependent on the bottleneck size used. In addition to the findings in Paper I, we found that mutations involved in transcription and translation were repeatedly selected upon subjection to high concentrations of ciprofloxacin.Paper III explored the resistance capacity of the plasmid-borne gene qnr, which reduces ciprofloxacin susceptibility by a target protection mechanism. We found that upon increased expression, the gene qnrS was able to bring E. coli to clinically resistant levels of ciprofloxacin without the addition of other resistance elements. In Paper IV we aimed for a similar study as described above but with another plasmid-borne gene, the inner-membrane efflux pump qepA. However, we ran into the interesting finding of a potentially undescribed regulatory mechanism of qepA expression, which we are currently investigating.The work in this thesis presents a new addition of mutations causing ciprofloxacin resistance, and evidence that the dogma of accumulative mutations being a requirement to develop clinical resistance to ciprofloxacin in E. coli can be circumvented. This shows that there is still much to explore, even with a drug used for several decades with an already well documented resistome. We need to learn more about the evolutionary trajectories leading to antibiotic resistance, in order to slow down its development towards existing and future antibiotics to the furthest extent possible.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Garoff, Linnéa, et al.
(författare)
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Increased expression of Qnr is sufficient to confer clinical resistance to ciprofloxacin in Escherichia coli
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0305-7453 .- 1460-2091. ; 73:2, s. 348-352
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Ciprofloxacin, a fluoroquinolone, targets two essential bacterial enzymes, DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV. Plasmid-borne qnr genes, encoding proteins that protect DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV from inhibition by fluoroquinolones, contribute to resistance development. However, the presence of a plasmid-borne qnr gene alone is insufficient to confer clinical resistance. Objectives: We asked whether the level of expression of qnr was a limiting factor in its ability to confer clinical resistance and whether expression could be increased without reducing fitness or viability. Methods: qnrB and qnrS were recombineered onto the chromosome of Escherichia coli under the control of constitutive promoters of various strengths. Expression was measured by qPCR, MIC and relative fitness as a function of expression level were determined. Results: For both qnr genes there was a positive relationship between the level of qnr mRNA and the MIC of ciprofloxacin. The highest MICs achieved with qnrB or qnrS as the sole resistance determinant were 0.375 and 1 mg/L, respectively, and were reached at expression levels that did not affect growth rate or viability. The qnrS-mediated MIC is above the EUCAST clinical breakpoint for resistance to ciprofloxacin. In the absence of Lon protease activity, overexpression of qnr genes was associated with high fitness cost, possibly explaining observations of toxicity in other genetic backgrounds. Conclusions: The ability to generate a high MIC without incurring a fitness cost shows that, in an appropriate genetic context, qnrS has the potential to generate clinical resistance to ciprofloxacin in one step.
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| 9. |
- Garoff, Linnéa, et al.
(författare)
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Population Bottlenecks Strongly Influence the Evolutionary Trajectory to Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Escherichia coli
- 2020
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Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 37:6, s. 1637-1646
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Experimental evolution is a powerful tool to study genetic trajectories to antibiotic resistance under selection. A confounding factor is that outcomes may be heavily influenced by the choice of experimental parameters. For practical purposes (minimizing culture volumes), most experimental evolution studies with bacteria use transmission bottleneck sizes of 5 x 10(6) cfu. We currently have a poor understanding of how the choice of transmission bottleneck size affects the accumulation of deleterious versus high-fitness mutations when resistance requires multiple mutations, and how this relates outcome to clinical resistance. We addressed this using experimental evolution of resistance to ciprofloxacin in Escherichia coli. Populations were passaged with three different transmission bottlenecks, including single cell (to maximize genetic drift) and bottlenecks spanning the reciprocal of the frequency of drug target mutations (10(8) and 10(10)). The 10(10) bottlenecks selected overwhelmingly mutations in drug target genes, and the resulting genotypes corresponded closely to those found in resistant clinical isolates. In contrast, both the 10(8) and single-cell bottlenecks selected mutations in three different gene classes: 1) drug targets, 2) efflux pump repressors, and 3) transcription-translation genes, including many mutations with low fitness. Accordingly, bottlenecks smaller than the average nucleotide substitution rate significantly altered the experimental outcome away from genotypes observed in resistant clinical isolates. These data could be applied in designing experimental evolution studies to increase their predictive power and to explore the interplay between different environmental conditions, where transmission bottlenecks might vary, and resulting evolutionary trajectories.
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| 10. |
- Garoff, Linnéa
(författare)
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The qepA Gene is Dependent on Upstream Sequences to Reduce Susceptibility to Ciprofloxacin
- 2018
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The plasmid-borne qepA gene encodes a quinolone efflux pump that confers resistance to ciprofloxacin in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli. According to published data qepA is transcribed from a promoter 31 bp upstream of the coding sequence. We asked whether ciprofloxacin MIC associated with qepA in E. coli would vary as a function of mRNA expression level. To our surprise we found that the annotated qepA coding sequence was not sufficient to increase MIC. We decided to investigate the role played by surrounding sequences in determining resistance to ciprofloxacin. The qepA region was engineered onto the E. coli chromosome and mutations were generated to test the significance of surrounding sequences for expression of resistance. MIC was measured by broth microdilution. A 3.2 kb fragment from a resistance plasmid, including the annotated qepA coding sequence (1.5 kb), generated an 8-fold ciprofloxacin MIC increase when recombined into the E. coli chromosome. Deletion analysis revealed that the MIC increase was dependent on sequences upstream of qepA, annotated as ∆int1/groEL and ∆dfr2. Combining sequence analysis and mutagenesis, we identified a promoter within the ∆int1/groEL sequence, required for expression of resistance. The predicted transcript included two open reading frames (orf1 261 bp, orf2 189 bp) upstream of qepA. Deletion analysis revealed the essentiality of orf2 for the MIC increase. In conclusion, we have identified a new promoter for qepA, provided evidence that expression of the qepA coding sequence is not sufficient for resistance, and that resistance is influenced by sequences upstream of the qepA coding sequence. Details of the resistance mechanism remain to be elucidated.
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