Contribution of Resistance-Nodulation-Cell Division Efflux Systems to Antibiotic Resistance and Biofilm Formation in Acinetobacter baumannii

International audienceABSTRACT : Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen of increasing importance due to its multiple resistance to antibiotics and ability to survive in the hospital environment linked to its capacity to form biofilms. To fully characterize the contribution of AdeABC, AdeFGH, and AdeIJK resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND)-type efflux systems to acquired and intrinsic resistance, we constructed, from an entirely sequenced susceptible A. baumannii strain, a set of isogenic mutants overexpressing each system following introduction of a point mutation in their cognate regulator or a deletion for the pump by allelic replacement. Pairwise comparison of every derivative with the parental strain indicated that AdeABC and AdeFGH are tightly regulated and contribute to acquisition of antibiotic resistance when overproduced. AdeABC had a broad substrate range, including β-lactams, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines-tigecycline, macrolides-lincosamides, and chloramphenicol, and conferred clinical resistance to aminoglycosides. Importantly, when combined with enzymatic resistance to carbapenems and aminoglycosides, this pump contributed in a synergistic fashion to the level of resistance of the host. In contrast, AdeIJK was expressed constitutively and was responsible for intrinsic resistance to the same major drug classes as AdeABC as well as antifolates and fusidic acid. Surprisingly, overproduction of AdeABC and AdeIJK altered bacterial membrane composition, resulting in decreased biofilm formation but not motility. Natural transformation and plasmid transfer were diminished in recipients overproducing AdeABC. It thus appears that alteration in the expression of efflux systems leads to multiple changes in the relationship between the host and its environment, in addition to antibiotic resistance.IMPORTANCE: Increased expression of chromosomal genes for RND-type efflux systems plays a major role in bacterial multidrug resistance. Acinetobacter baumannii has recently emerged as an important human pathogen responsible for epidemics of hospital-acquired infections. Besides its remarkable ability to horizontally acquire resistance determinants, it has a broad intrinsic resistance due to low membrane permeability, endogenous resistance genes, and antibiotic efflux. The study of isogenic mutants from a susceptible A. baumannii clinical isolate overproducing or deleted for each of the three major RND-type pumps demonstrated their major contribution to intrinsic resistance and to the synergism between overproduction of an efflux system and acquisition of a resistance gene. We have also shown that modulation of expression of the structural genes for the efflux systems results in numerous alterations in membrane-associated cellular functions, in particular, in a decrease in biofilm formation and resistance gene acquisition

Influence de l'humidité relative sur l'agressivité et la viabilité des souches de Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuillemin et de Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) Sorokin, hyphomycètes pathogènes de la pyrale du maïs, Ostrinia nubilalis Hübn

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Introduction

Le présent volume est le produit d’une initiative de recherche lancée par le Groupe de recherche sur les pouvoirs et sociétés dans l’Occident médiéval et moderne (Grepsomm) en 2006-2008, sur le thème général de « L’écrit et la ville ». Fondé en 2004, le Grepsomm s’intéresse, dans une perspective pluridisciplinaire, aux fondements du lien social et politique durant la longue période de réorganisation de la société occidentale, depuis la fragmentation féodale des pouvoirs au xie siècle jusqu’à ..

Aminoglycoside resistance 16S rRNA methyltransferases block endogenous methylation, affect translation efficiency and fitness of the host.

International audienceIn Gram-negative bacteria, acquired 16S rRNA methyltransferases ArmA and NpmA confer high-level resistance to all clinically useful aminoglycosides by modifying, respectively, G1405 and A1408 in the A-site. These enzymes must coexist with several endogenous methyltransferases that are essential for fine-tuning of the decoding center, such as RsmH and RsmI in Escherichia coli, which methylate C1402 and RsmF C1407. The resistance methyltransferases have a contrasting distribution-ArmA has spread worldwide, whereas a single clinical isolate producing NpmA has been reported. The rate of dissemination of resistance depends on the fitness cost associated with its expression. We have compared ArmA and NpmA in isogenic Escherichia coli harboring the corresponding structural genes and their inactive point mutants cloned under the control of their native constitutive promoter in the stable plasmid pGB2. Growth rate determination and competition experiments showed that ArmA had a fitness cost due to methylation of G1405, whereas NpmA conferred only a slight disadvantage to the host due to production of the enzyme. MALDI MS indicated that ArmA impeded one of the methylations at C1402 by RsmI, and not at C1407 as previously proposed, whereas NpmA blocked the activity of RsmF at C1407. A dual luciferase assay showed that methylation at G1405 and A1408 and lack of methylation at C1407 affect translation accuracy. These results indicate that resistance methyltransferases impair endogenous methylation with different consequences on cell fitness

Deep mutational scanning of the Neisseria meningitidis major pilin reveals the importance of pilus tip‐mediated adhesion

International audienceType IV pili (TFP) are multifunctional micrometer-long filaments expressed at the surface of many prokaryotes. In Neisseria meningitidis, TFP are crucial for virulence. Indeed, these homopolymers of the major pilin PilE mediate interbacterial aggregation and adhesion to host cells. However, the mechanisms behind these functions remain unclear. Here, we simultaneously determined regions of PilE involved in pilus display, auto-aggregation, and adhesion by using deep mutational scanning and started mining this extensive functional map. For auto-aggregation, pili must reach a minimum length to allow pilus-pilus interactions through an electropositive cluster of residues centered around Lys140. For adhesion, results point to a key role for the tip of the pilus. Accordingly, purified pili interacting with host cells initially bind via their tip-located major pilin and then along their length. Overall, these results identify functional domains of PilE and support a direct role of the major pilin in TFP-dependent aggregation and adhesion

Homologous prime boosting based on intranasal delivery of non-pathogenic invasive <i>Escherichia coli</i> expressing MPT64, decreases <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> dissemination

Protein-subunit vaccines as boosting strategies against tuberculosis (TB) infection are currently in the pipeline of TB vaccine research. Their main limitation is represented by their poor immunogenicity, which makes it necessary to couple protein-subunits with adjuvant molecules. In this study, we employed replication-deficient invasive Escherichia coli strains to deliver Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins to the cytoplasm of non-phagocytic eukaryotic cells using various priming and prime-boosting vaccination protocols. Our results demonstrate that intranasal administration of invasive E. coli expressing the M. tuberculosis protective antigen MPT64 to mice primed with a recombinant BCG strain over-expressing MPT64 on its surface, decrease bacterial burden in mice spleens. Our data suggest that replication-deficient invasive E. coli may represent a suitable platform for BCG/rBCG priming followed by homologous-boosting immunization strategies