scholarly journals A penicillin-binding protein inhibits selection of colistin-resistant, lipooligosaccharide-deficientAcinetobacter baumannii

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (41) ◽  
pp. E6228-E6237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph M. Boll ◽  
Alexander A. Crofts ◽  
Katharina Peters ◽  
Vincent Cattoir ◽  
Waldemar Vollmer ◽  
...  

The Gram-negative bacterial outer membrane fortifies the cell against environmental toxins including antibiotics. Unique glycolipids called lipopolysaccharide/lipooligosaccharide (LPS/LOS) are enriched in the cell-surface monolayer of the outer membrane and promote antimicrobial resistance. Colistin, which targets the lipid A domain of LPS/LOS to lyse the cell, is the last-line treatment for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections. Lipid A is essential for the survival of most Gram-negative bacteria, but colistin-resistantAcinetobacter baumanniilacking lipid A were isolated after colistin exposure. Previously, strain ATCC 19606 was the onlyA. baumanniistrain demonstrated to subsist without lipid A. Here, we show that otherA. baumanniistrains can also survive without lipid A, but some cannot, affording a unique model to study endotoxin essentiality. We assessed the capacity of 15 clinicalA. baumanniiisolates including 9 recent clinical isolates to develop colistin resistance through inactivation of the lipid A biosynthetic pathway, the products of which assemble the LOS precursor. Our investigation determined that expression of the well-conserved penicillin-binding protein (PBP) 1A, prevented LOS-deficient colony isolation. The glycosyltransferase activity of PBP1A, which aids in the polymerization of the peptidoglycan cell wall, was lethal to LOS-deficientA. baumannii. Global transcriptomic analysis of a PBP1A-deficient mutant and four LOS-deficientA. baumanniistrains showed a concomitant increase in transcription of lipoproteins and their transporters. Examination of the LOS-deficientA. baumanniicell surface demonstrated that specific lipoproteins were overexpressed and decorated the cell surface, potentially compensating for LOS removal. This work expands our knowledge of lipid A essentiality and elucidates a drug resistance mechanism.

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saquib Malik ◽  
Monica Kaminski ◽  
David Landman ◽  
John Quale

ABSTRACT Cefiderocol is a siderophore cephalosporin active against many multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative pathogens. We examined the resistance mechanisms in 12 Acinetobacter baumannii strains with cefiderocol MICs ranging from ≤0.03 to >32 μg/ml. Cefiderocol resistance could not be explained by β-lactamase activity. Cefiderocol resistance was associated with reduced expression of the siderophore receptor gene pirA. Mutations involving PBP3 may have contributed to resistance in one strain. Additional studies are needed to assess the role of other siderophore receptors.


mBio ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie N. Kang ◽  
Misha I. Kazi ◽  
Jacob Biboy ◽  
Joe Gray ◽  
Hannah Bovermann ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Despite dogma suggesting that lipopolysaccharide/lipooligosaccharide (LOS) was essential for viability of Gram-negative bacteria, several Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates produced LOS− colonies after colistin selection. Inactivation of the conserved class A penicillin-binding protein, PBP1A, was a compensatory mutation that supported isolation of LOS− A. baumannii, but the impact of PBP1A mutation was not characterized. Here, we show that the absence of PBP1A causes septation defects and that these, together with ld-transpeptidase activity, support isolation of LOS− A. baumannii. PBP1A contributes to proper cell division in A. baumannii, and its absence induced cell chaining. Only isolates producing three or more septa supported selection of colistin-resistant LOS− A. baumannii. PBP1A was enriched at the midcell, where the divisome complex facilitates daughter cell formation, and its localization was dependent on glycosyltransferase activity. Transposon mutagenesis showed that genes encoding two putative ld-transpeptidases (LdtJ and LdtK) became essential in the PBP1A mutant. Both LdtJ and LdtK were required for selection of LOS− A. baumannii, but each had distinct enzymatic activities in the cell. Together, these findings demonstrate that defects in PBP1A glycosyltransferase activity and ld-transpeptidase activity remodel the cell envelope to support selection of colistin-resistant LOS− A. baumannii. IMPORTANCE The increasing prevalence of antibiotic treatment failure associated with Gram-negative bacterial infections highlights an urgent need to develop new alternative therapeutic strategies. The last-line antimicrobial colistin (polymyxin E) targets the ubiquitous outer membrane lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/LOS membrane anchor, lipid A, which is essential for viability of most diderms. However, several LOS− Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates were recovered after colistin selection, suggesting a conserved resistance mechanism. Here, we characterized a role for penicillin-binding protein 1A in A. baumannii septation and intrinsic β-lactam susceptibility. We also showed that defects in PBP1A glycosyltransferase activity and ld-transpeptidase activity support isolation of colistin-resistant LOS− A. baumannii.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas L. Jean ◽  
Catherine M. Bougault ◽  
Alexander J. F. Egan ◽  
Waldemar Vollmer ◽  
Jean-Pierre Simorre

2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole P. Giordano ◽  
Melina B. Cian ◽  
Zachary D. Dalebroux

ABSTRACT The outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria is an asymmetric lipid bilayer that consists of inner leaflet phospholipids and outer leaflet lipopolysaccharides (LPS). The asymmetric character and unique biochemistry of LPS molecules contribute to the OM’s ability to function as a molecular permeability barrier that protects the bacterium against hazards in the environment. Assembly and regulation of the OM have been extensively studied for understanding mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and bacterial defense against host immunity; however, there is little knowledge on how Gram-negative bacteria release their OMs into their environment to manipulate their hosts. Discoveries in bacterial lipid trafficking, OM lipid homeostasis, and host recognition of microbial patterns have shed new light on how microbes secrete OM vesicles (OMVs) to influence inflammation, cell death, and disease pathogenesis. Pathogens release OMVs that contain phospholipids, like cardiolipins, and components of LPS molecules, like lipid A endotoxins. These multiacylated lipid amphiphiles are molecular patterns that are differentially detected by host receptors like the Toll-like receptor 4/myeloid differentiation factor 2 complex (TLR4/MD-2), mouse caspase-11, and human caspases 4 and 5. We discuss how lipid ligands on OMVs engage these pattern recognition receptors on the membranes and in the cytosol of mammalian cells. We then detail how bacteria regulate OM lipid asymmetry, negative membrane curvature, and the phospholipid-to-LPS ratio to control OMV formation. The goal is to highlight intersections between OM lipid regulation and host immunity and to provide working models for how bacterial lipids influence vesicle formation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (43) ◽  
pp. 21748-21757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Hart ◽  
Angela M. Mitchell ◽  
Anna Konovalova ◽  
Marcin Grabowicz ◽  
Jessica Sheng ◽  
...  

The development of new antimicrobial drugs is a priority to combat the increasing spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria. This development is especially problematic in gram-negative bacteria due to the outer membrane (OM) permeability barrier and multidrug efflux pumps. Therefore, we screened for compounds that target essential, nonredundant, surface-exposed processes in gram-negative bacteria. We identified a compound, MRL-494, that inhibits assembly of OM proteins (OMPs) by the β-barrel assembly machine (BAM complex). The BAM complex contains one essential surface-exposed protein, BamA. We constructed a bamA mutagenesis library, screened for resistance to MRL-494, and identified the mutation bamAE470K. BamAE470K restores OMP biogenesis in the presence of MRL-494. The mutant protein has both altered conformation and activity, suggesting it could either inhibit MRL-494 binding or allow BamA to function in the presence of MRL-494. By cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA), we determined that MRL-494 stabilizes BamA and BamAE470K from thermally induced aggregation, indicating direct or proximal binding to both BamA and BamAE470K. Thus, it is the altered activity of BamAE470K responsible for resistance to MRL-494. Strikingly, MRL-494 possesses a second mechanism of action that kills gram-positive organisms. In microbes lacking an OM, MRL-494 lethally disrupts the cytoplasmic membrane. We suggest that the compound cannot disrupt the cytoplasmic membrane of gram-negative bacteria because it cannot penetrate the OM. Instead, MRL-494 inhibits OMP biogenesis from outside the OM by targeting BamA. The identification of a small molecule that inhibits OMP biogenesis at the cell surface represents a distinct class of antibacterial agents.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noushin Akhoundsadegh ◽  
Corrie R. Belanger ◽  
Robert E. W. Hancock

ABSTRACT Infections caused by drug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli are a severe global health threat, limiting effective drug choices for treatment. In this study, polymyxin analogs designed to have reduced nephrotoxicity, direct activity, and potentiating activity were assessed for inhibition and outer membrane interaction kinetics against wild-type (WT) and polymyxin or multidrug-resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. In MIC assays, two polymyxin B (PMB) analogs (SPR1205 and SPR206) and a polymyxin E analog (SPR946), with shortened peptide side chains and branched aminobutyryl N termini, exhibited promising activity compared with PMB and previously tested control polymyxin analogs SPR741 and polymyxin B nonapeptide (PMBN). Using dansyl-polymyxin (DPX) binding to assess the affinity of interaction with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), purified or in the context of intact cells, SPR206 exhibited similar affinities to PMB but higher affinities than the other SPR analogs. Outer membrane permeabilization measured by the 1-N-phenyl-napthylamine (NPN) assay did not differ significantly between the polymyxin analogs. Moreover, Hill numbers were greater than 1 for most of the compounds tested on E. coli and P. aeruginosa strains which indicates that the disruption of the outer membrane by one molecule of compound cooperatively enhances the subsequent interactions of other molecules against WT and MDR strains. The high activity demonstrated by SPR206 as well as its ability to displace LPS and permeabilize the outer membrane of multiple strains of Gram-negative bacilli while showing cooperative potential with other membrane disrupting compounds supports further research with this polymyxin analog.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (18) ◽  
pp. 6599-6600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Tan ◽  
Creg Darby

ABSTRACT Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the major outer membrane component of gram-negative bacteria. The minimal LPS structure for viability of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is lipid A glycosylated with 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid (Kdo) residues. Here we show that another member of the Enterobacteriaceae, Yersinia pestis, can survive without Kdo in its LPS.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Nakano ◽  
Takao Fujisawa ◽  
Yutaka Ito ◽  
Bin Chang ◽  
Yasufumi Matsumura ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Since the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, the prevalence of non-meropenem-susceptible pneumococci has been increasing in Japan. In an earlier study, we demonstrated that multidrug-resistant serotype 15A-ST63 in Japan has a specific pbp1a sequence (pbp1a-13) that could promote meropenem resistance. To trace the origin of pbp1a, we analyzed isolates of serotype 19A-CC3111, which is the most prevalent non-meropenem-susceptible clone in Japan. We analyzed a total of 119 serotype 19A-CC3111 strains recovered in Japan using whole-genome sequencing. Of the 119 isolates, 53 (44.5%) harbored pbp1a-13, indicating that the clone may be the primary reservoir of the pbp1a type and that the pbp1a region may be horizontally transferred between different serotype strains. The single acquisition of pbp1a-13 seemed to cause only penicillin resistance and not multidrug resistance; a combination of penicillin-binding protein (PBP) recombination in the pbp2b and/or pbp2x region(s) with acquisition of pbp1a-13 caused multidrug resistance. Conserved amino acid motif analysis suggested that the pbp1a 370SXXK, pbp2b 448SXN, and pbp2x 337SXXN motifs were the candidates for amino acid substitutions increasing the MICs of meropenem, cefotaxime, and penicillin. We identified a specific clone that was correlated with multidrug resistance, although no correlation was observed between phylogenetic trees generated using core genomes and those generated with only the cps locus. All tested isolates were highly erythromycin resistant, and most harbored mefE within macrolide efflux genetic assembly (MEGA) elements and ermB within Tn917, which was inserted within Tn916 and exhibited a structure identical to that of Tn2017.


1998 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 534-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Raze ◽  
Olivier Dardenne ◽  
Séverine Hallut ◽  
Manuel Martinez-Bueno ◽  
Jacques Coyette ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Two plasmid-derived NcoI DNA fragments of 14 and 4.5 kb, respectively, have been isolated from the multidrug-resistant strain Enterococcus hirae S185R and analyzed. The 14-kb fragment contains two inverted (L and R) IS1216 insertion modules of the ISS1 family. These modules define a Tn5466 transposon-like structure that contains one copy of the methylase-encoding ermAMconferring erythromycin resistance and one copy of the adenylyl-transferase-encoding aadE conferring streptomycin resistance. Immediately on the left side of IS1216L there occurs a copy of pbp3r encoding the low-affinity penicillin-binding protein (PBP) PBP3r, itself preceded by apsr-like gene (psr3r) that controls the synthesis of PBP3r. ermAM, aadE, and the transposase gene (tnp) of IS1216R have the same polarities, and these are opposite those of psr3r,pbp3r, and the tnp gene of IS1216L. The 4.5-kb fragment is a copy of the 4.5-kb sequence at the 5′ end of the 14-kb fragment, although it is not a restriction product of the 14-kb fragment. It contains three genes with the same polarity:psr3r, pbp3r, and tnp in an IS1216 element. Because of the very high degree of identity (99%) with the chromosomal psrfm and pbp5fmgenes of Enterococcus faecium D63R, it is proposed that both the psr3r and pbp3r genes were transferred from an E. faecium strain and inserted in a plasmid ofE. hirae. E. hirae is the first known bacterial species in which a low-affinity PBP-encoding gene has been found to be plasmid borne.


mSystems ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ke Ma ◽  
Yu Feng ◽  
Alan McNally ◽  
Zhiyong Zong

ABSTRACT Aztreonam-avibactam is a promising antimicrobial combination against multidrug-resistant organisms, such as carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales. Resistance to aztreonam-avibactam has been found, but the resistance mechanism remains poorly studied. We recovered three Escherichia coli isolates of an almost identical genome but exhibiting varied aztreonam-avibactam resistance. The isolates carried a cephalosporinase gene, blaCMY-42, on IncIγ plasmids with a single-nucleotide variation in an antisense RNA-encoding gene, inc, of the replicon. The isolates also had four extra amino acids (YRIK) in penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP3) due to a duplication of a 12-nucleotide (TATCGAATTAAC) stretch in pbp3. By cloning and plasmid-curing experiments, we found that elevated CMY-42 cephalosporinase production or amino acid insertions in PBP3 alone mediated slightly reduced susceptibility to aztreonam-avibactam, but their combination conferred aztreonam-avibactam resistance. We show that the elevated CMY-42 production results from increased plasmid copy numbers due to mutations in inc. We also verified the findings using in vitro mutation assays, in which aztreonam-avibactam-resistant mutants also had mutations in inc and elevated CMY-42 production compared with the parental strain. This choir of target modification, hydrolyzing enzyme, and plasmid expression represents a novel, coordinated, complex antimicrobial resistance mechanism and also reflects the struggle of bacteria to survive under selection pressure imposed by antimicrobial agents. IMPORTANCE Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) is a serious global challenge with limited therapeutic options. Aztreonam-avibactam is a promising antimicrobial combination with activity against CPE producing serine-based carbapenemases and metallo-β-lactamases and has the potential to be a major option for combatting CPE. Aztreonam-avibactam resistance has been found, but resistance mechanisms remain largely unknown. Understanding resistance mechanisms is essential for optimizing treatment and developing alternative therapies. Here, we found that either penicillin-binding protein 3 modification or the elevated expression of cephalosporinase CMY-42 due to increased plasmid copy numbers does not confer resistance to aztreonam-avibactam, but their combination does. We demonstrate that increased plasmid copy numbers result from mutations in antisense RNA-encoding inc of the IncIγ replicon. The findings reveal that antimicrobial resistance may be due to concerted combinatorial effects of target alteration, hydrolyzing enzyme, and plasmid expression and also highlight that resistance to any antimicrobial combination will inevitably emerge.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document