scholarly journals Overexpression of mfpA Gene Increases Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Mycobacterium smegmatis

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Aura Falco ◽  
Carlos Aranaga ◽  
Ivan Ocampo ◽  
Howard Takiff

Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are antibiotics useful in the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis, but FQ-resistant mutants can be selected rapidly. Although mutations in the DNA gyrase are the principal cause of this resistance, pentapeptide proteins have been found to confer low-level FQ resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. MfpA is a pentapeptide repeat protein conserved in mycobacterial chromosomes, where it is adjacent to a group of four highly conserved genes termed a conservon. We wished to characterize the transcriptional regulation of the mfpA gene and relate its expression to ciprofloxacin resistance in M. smegmatis. Reverse transcription PCR showed that mfpA gene is part of an operon containing the conservon genes. Using a transcriptional fusion, we showed that a promoter was located 5′ to the mfpEA operon. We determined the promoter activity under different growth conditions and found that the expression of the operon increases slightly in late growth phases in basic pH and in subinhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin. Finally, by cloning the mfpA gene in an inducible vector, we showed that induced expression of mfpA increases the ciprofloxacin Minimal Inhibitory Concentration. These results confirm that increased expression of the mfpA gene, which is part of the mfpEA operon, increases ciprofloxacin resistance in M. smegmatis.

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 421-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Raherison ◽  
P. Gonzalez ◽  
H. Renaudin ◽  
A. Charron ◽  
C. Bébéar ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Two genes, md1 and md2, coding for multidrug resistance ATP-binding cassette transporters were identified in Mycoplasma hominis PG21. Expression of these two genes, quantified by quantitative competitive reverse transcription-PCR, was significantly increased in ethidium bromide-resistant strains of M. hominis compared to that in M. hominis PG21.


2006 ◽  
Vol 72 (10) ◽  
pp. 6766-6772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Anselme ◽  
Agnès Vallier ◽  
Séverine Balmand ◽  
Marie-Odile Fauvarque ◽  
Abdelaziz Heddi

ABSTRACT Intracellular symbiosis (endosymbiosis) with gram-negative bacteria is common in insects, yet little is known about how the host immune system perceives the endosymbionts and controls their growth and invasion without complete bacterial clearance. In this study, we have explored the expression of a peptidoglycan recognition protein gene of the weevil Sitophilus zeamais (wPGRP); an ortholog in Drosophila (i.e., PGRP-LB) was recently shown to downregulate the Imd pathway (A. Zaidman-Remy, M. Herve, M. Poidevin, S. Pili-Floury, M. S. Kim, D. Blanot, B. H. Oh, R. Ueda, D. Mengin-Lecreulx, and B. Lemaitre, Immunity 24:463-473, 2006). Insect challenges with bacteria have demonstrated that wPGRP is induced by gram-negative bacteria and that the level of induction depends on bacterial growth. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR quantification of the wPGRP gene transcript performed at different points in insect development has shown a high steady-state level in the bacteria-bearing organ (the bacteriome) of larvae and a high level of wPGRP up-regulation in the symbiotic nymphal phase. Concomitantly, during this stage fluorescence in situ hybridization has revealed an endosymbiont release from the host bacteriocytes. Together with the previously described high induction level of endosymbiont virulence genes at the nymphal phase (C. Dale, G. R. Plague, B. Wang, H. Ochman, and N. A. Moran, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99:12397-12402, 2002), these findings indicate that insect mutualistic relationships evolve through an interplay between bacterial virulence and host immune defense and that the host immunity engages the PGRP gene family in that interplay.


1995 ◽  
Vol 312 (2) ◽  
pp. 465-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Smith ◽  
A Borges ◽  
M R Ariyanayagam ◽  
A H Fairlamb

Intracellular levels of glutathione and glutathionylspermidine conjugates have been measured throughout the growth phases of Escherichia coli. Glutathionylspermidine was present in mid-log-phase cells, and under stationary and anaerobic growth conditions accounted for 80% of the total glutathione content. N1,N8-bis(glutathionyl)spermidine (trypanothione) was undetectable under all growth conditions. The catalytic constant kcat/Km of recombinant E. coli glutathione reductase for glutathionylspermidine disulphide was approx. 11,000-fold lower than that for glutathione disulphide. The much higher catalytic constant for the mixed disulphide of glutathione and glutathionylspermidine (11% that of GSSG), suggests a possible explanation for the low turnover of trypanothione disulphide by E. coli glutathione reductase, given the apparent lack of a specific glutathionylspermidine disulphide reductase in E. coli.


2007 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 599-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selvakumar Subbian ◽  
Sujatha Narayanan

The highly inducible acetamidase promoter from Mycobacterium smegmatis has been used as a tool in the study of mycobacterial genetics. The 4.2 kb acetamidase operon contains four putative open reading frames (ORFs) (amiC, amiA, amiD, and amiS) upstream of the 1.2 kb acetamidase ORF (amiE). In this article, using electrophoretic mobility shift assay and promoter probe analyses with a lacZ reporter system, we show the position of three putative operators within the acetamidase operon in M. smegmatis. Results from these studies reinforce previous findings about the involvement of multiple promoters in the regulation of acetamidase gene expression. Each of the identified operators are positioned upstream of the respective promoter reported in previous studies. We also found that the crude cell lysate of M. smegmatis containing potential regulators, obtained from bacteria grown under inducing or noninducing conditions, binds to specific operators. The binding affinity of each operator with its cognate regulator is significantly different from the other. This supports not only the previous model of acetamidase gene regulation in M. smegmatis but also explains the role of these operators in controlling the expression of respective promoters under different growth conditions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samira M. Hamed ◽  
Walid F. Elkhatib ◽  
Hadir A. El-Mahallawy ◽  
Mai M. Helmy ◽  
Mohamed S. Ashour ◽  
...  

2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (18) ◽  
pp. 5536-5545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas V. Coleman ◽  
Jim C. Spain

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium strains that grow on ethene and vinyl chloride (VC) are widely distributed in the environment and are potentially useful for biocatalysis and bioremediation. The catabolic pathway of alkene assimilation in mycobacteria is not well characterized. It is clear that the initial step is a monooxygenase-mediated epoxidation that produces epoxyethane from ethene and chlorooxirane from VC, but the enzymes involved in subsequent transformation of the epoxides have not been identified. We investigated epoxyethane metabolism in Mycobacterium strain JS60 and discovered a coenzyme M (CoM)-dependent enzyme activity in extracts from VC- and ethene-grown cells. PCR amplifications using primers targeted at epoxyalkane:CoM transferase (EaCoMT) genes yielded part of the JS60 EaCoMT gene, which was used to clone an 8.4-kb genomic DNA fragment. The complete EaCoMT gene (etnE) was recovered, along with genes (etnABCD) encoding a four-component monooxygenase and two genes possibly involved in acyl-CoA ester metabolism. Reverse transcription-PCR indicated that the etnE and etnA genes were cotranscribed and inducible by ethene and VC. Heterologous expression of the etnE gene in Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155 using the pMV261 vector gave a recombinant strain capable of transforming epoxyethane, epoxypropane, and chlorooxirane. A metabolite identified by mass spectrometry as 2-hydroxyethyl-CoM was produced from epoxyethane. The results indicate that the EaCoMT and monooxygenase enzymes encoded by a single operon (etnEABCD) catalyze the initial reactions in both the VC and ethene assimilation pathways. CoM-mediated reactions appear to be more widespread in bacteria than was previously believed.


2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (10) ◽  
pp. 3143-3152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Soisig Steunou ◽  
Soufian Ouchane ◽  
Françoise Reiss-Husson ◽  
Chantal Astier

ABSTRACT The facultative phototrophic nonsulfur bacterium Rubrivivax gelatinosus exhibits several differences from other species of purple bacteria in the organization of its photosynthetic genes. In particular, the puc operon contains only the pucB and pucA genes encoding the β and α polypeptides of the light-harvesting 2 (LH2) complex. Downstream of the pucBA operon is the pucC gene in the opposite transcriptional orientation. The transcription of pucBA and pucC has been studied. No pucC transcript was detected either by Northern blotting or by reverse transcription-PCR analysis. The initiation site of pucBA transcription was determined by primer extension, and Northern blot analysis revealed the presence of two transcripts of 0.8 and 0.65 kb. The half-lives of both transcripts are longer in cells grown semiaerobically than in photosynthetically grown cells, and the small transcript is the less stable. It was reported that the α polypeptide, encoded by the pucA gene, presents a C-terminal extension which is not essential for LH2 function in vitro. The biological role of this alanine- and proline-rich C-terminal extension in vivo has been investigated. Two mutants with C-terminal deletions of 13 and 18 residues have been constructed. Both present the two pucBA transcripts, while their phenotypes are, respectively, LH2+ and LH2−, suggesting that a minimal length of the C-terminal extension is required for LH2 biogenesis. Another important factor involved in the LH2 biogenesis is the PucC protein. To gain insight into the function of this protein in R. gelatinosus, we constructed and characterized a PucC mutant. The mutant is devoid of LH2 complex under semiaerobiosis but still produces a small amount of these antennae under photosynthetic growth conditions. This conditional phenotype suggests the involvement of another factor in LH2 biogenesis.


2003 ◽  
Vol 71 (11) ◽  
pp. 6124-6131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie S. Dawes ◽  
Digby F. Warner ◽  
Liana Tsenova ◽  
Juliano Timm ◽  
John D. McKinney ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, possesses a class Ib ribonucleotide reductase (RNR), encoded by the nrdE and nrdF2 genes, in addition to a putative class II RNR, encoded by nrdZ. In this study we probed the relative contributions of these RNRs to the growth and persistence of M. tuberculosis. We found that targeted knockout of the nrdF2 gene could be achieved only in the presence of a complementing allele, confirming that this gene is essential under normal, in vitro growth conditions. This observation also implied that the alternate class Ib small subunit encoded by the nrdF1 gene is unable to substitute for nrdF2 and that the class II RNR, NrdZ, cannot substitute for the class Ib enzyme, NrdEF2. Conversely, a ΔnrdZ null mutant of M. tuberculosis was readily obtained by allelic exchange mutagenesis. Quantification of levels of nrdE, nrdF2, nrdF1, and nrdZ gene expression by real-time, quantitative reverse transcription-PCR with molecular beacons by using mRNA from aerobic and O2-limited cultures showed that nrdZ was significantly induced under microaerophilic conditions, in contrast to the other genes, whose expression was reduced by O2 restriction. However, survival of the ΔnrdZ mutant strain was not impaired under hypoxic conditions in vitro. Moreover, the lungs of B6D2/F1 mice infected with the ΔnrdZ mutant had bacterial loads comparable to those of lungs infected with the parental wild-type strain, which argues against the hypothesis that nrdZ plays a significant role in the virulence of M. tuberculosis in this mouse model.


2006 ◽  
Vol 72 (9) ◽  
pp. 5757-5765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Sch�bbe ◽  
Chris W�rdemann ◽  
J�rg Peplies ◽  
Udo Heyen ◽  
Cathrin Wawer ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Genes involved in magnetite biomineralization are clustered within the genomic magnetosome island of Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense. Their transcriptional organization and regulation were studied by several approaches. Cotranscription of genes within the mamAB, mamDC, and mms clusters was demonstrated by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) of intergenic regions, indicating the presence of long polycistronic transcripts extending over more than 16 kb. The transcription start points of the mamAB, mamDC, and mms operons were mapped at 22 bp, 52 bp, and 58 bp upstream of the first genes of the operons, respectively. Identified −10 and −35 boxes of the P mamAB , P mamDC , and P mms promoters showed high similarity to the canonical σ70 recognition sequence. The transcription of magnetosome genes was further studied in response to iron and oxygen. Transcripts of magnetosome genes were detected by RT-PCR both in magnetic cells grown microaerobically under iron-sufficient conditions and in nonmagnetic cells grown either aerobically or with iron limitation. The presence of transcripts was found to be independent of the growth phase. Further results from partial RNA microarrays targeting the putative magnetosome transcriptome of M. gryphiswaldense and real-time RT-PCR experiments indicated differences in expression levels depending on growth conditions. The expression of the mam and mms genes was down-regulated in nonmagnetic cells under iron limitation and, to a lesser extent, during aerobic growth compared to that in magnetite-forming cells grown microaerobically under iron-sufficient conditions.


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