Antibiotic resistance Flashcards
what is intrinsic resistance?
independent of antibiotic selective pressure and horizontal gene transfer; result of inherent structural or functional characteristics.
what is acquired resistance?
mutations in drug targets or transfer of resistance genes through phage-mediated transduction and mobile plasmids.
what is horizontal gene transfer?
the acquisition by an organism of genetic information by transfer, for example via the agency of a virus, from an organism that is not its parent and is typically a member of a different species.
why is horizontal gene transfer more frequent in biofilms?
HGT is promoted in biofilms
Because cells are close together it facilitate the transfer process (more easily than planktonic)
what ways can horizontal gene transfer occur?
- Transformation: lysed bacterium release DNA
- Conjugation: occurs via membrane to membrane or via appendages
- Transduction: via phages
what is intrinsic transformation?
give evidence for this
Competent cells take up foreign DNA across their cell membrane and incorporate it into their own genome by genetic recombination.
virulent but killed Streptococcus pneumonia cells added to a living culture of nonvirulent S. pneumoniae causes some cells to become virulent
how did Vitkovitch (2004) demonstrate intrinsic transformation?
- Vitkovitch (2004) demonstrated that biofilm grown Streptococcus mutans was transformed to erythromycin resistance either by the addition of naked DNA or heat killed donor cells carrying the antibiotic resistance genotype.
how muhc higher were the rates of transformation in Vitkovitch’s experiment on intrinsic transformation between biofilms and planktonic cells?
- The rates of transformation were 10 to 600 times greater than those observed in cells in planktonic culture.
describe the new mechanism that uses vesicles in transformation
Membrane vesicles: released from the cell surface by many Gram-negative, and some Gram-positive, bacteria and can contain proteins, polysaccharides and importantly for microbial adaptation, DNA.
Carry resistant determinants like β-lactams, and enzymes such as protease, endopeptidases, etc., OMVs give survival advantage to bacteria due to antibiotic resistance traits in biofilms, thereby protecting from antibiotic carnage
what bacterial strain has been shown to release extracellular DNA (eDNA) via membrane vesicles into the developing biofilm ?
what does it provide?
Streptococcus mutans
provides therefore an important source for genetic material via this novel mechanism.
how does conjugation occur in gram negative bacteria?
via fimbria and pili
Plasmid transfer in the biofilm system was observed to be ____ higher than in planktonic culture. (Dunny et al. 1995).
Plasmid transfer in the biofilm system was observed to be 100 times higher than in planktonic culture. (Dunny et al. 1995).
give an example of an experiment involving intergeneric conjugation
dual biofilm of Bacillus subtilus carrying a tetracycline resistant gene construct and a sensitive Staphylococcus species.
After 6 and 24 hours, Staphylococcus isolates resistant to tetracycline were recovered and were shown to be carrying the identical tetracycline resistant gene originally borne by the Bacillus (Roberts et al. 1999).
prevention of access to antibiotic target occurs due to:
1) reduced permeability of the cell envelope
2) increased efflux activity (accept it goes in but immediately pump out)
3) mutation in antibiotic target
4) enzymatic modification or inactivation of the drug (hydrolysis or transfer of a chemical group)
5) ability to form biofilms greatly enhance antibiotic resistance traits
biofilms have a high level of resistance to two things, what are they ?
– Antibiotics
– Biocides
give an example of physical resistance to antimicrobials
– Exopolysaccharide production (slime) by biofilms “shields” susceptible cells e.g. to aggressive oxidant biocides
what are the five major types of multidrug efflux transporters
- resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND; Gram-negative bacteria)
- major facilitator superfamily (MF or MFS)
- small multidrug resistance (SMR)
- multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE, formerly DME)
- ATP-binding cassette (ABC).
- First four groups also known as secondary transporters, use the pre-stored energy of chemical gradients across the membrane
- ABC transporters directly coupled with energy generation
what are the three H+ drug antiporter groups?
- resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND; Gram-negative bacteria)
- major facilitator superfamily (MF or MFS)
- small multidrug resistance (SMR)
give a type of Na+ drug antiporter?
multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE, formerly DME)
give a type of ATP hydrolysis-linked drug transporters
- ATP-binding cassette (ABC).
what type of efflux pump is only found in gram negative bacteria?
Acr part of the RND family
what type of antibiotics can get into a biofilm?
(electrochemical status)
neutral or charged
whats different about the P. aeroginosa biofilms when they are deficient in Rhamnolipids?
- mutants deficient in rhamnolipid synthesis **do not maintain the noncolonized channels surrounding macrocolonies. **
- rhamnolipids are not required for the formation of macrocolonies and channels but participate in the maintenance of channels once formed.
how do surfactants maintain the noncolonised channels?
- surfactants may be able to maintain open channels by affecting cell-cell interactions and the attachment of bacterial cells to surfaces.
when does rhamolipids synthesis begin?
- high cell density planktonic growth induces the synthesis of quorum-sensing-dependent rhamnolipid production, (in the later stages of biofilm development)
describe how we can map the diffusion into a biofilm
give an example of the tracer used
add flourescent stain (eg Rhodamine B) to a biofilm and wait for the marker to appear in the colonies then track it through until it reached the middle of the colony
what was the effective diffusion coefficient of rhodamine B in the biofilm compared to water
Data indicate a value for effective diffusion coefficient of rhodamine in the biofilm approx. 15% of its value in pure water.
how fast can antibiotic-sized tracer can access the centre of a large, dense staphylococcal cell cluster
within 300 s – 5 minutes.
how does diffusion of solutes in biofilms compare to that in water?
- Biofilms are mostly water and solutes the size of most biocides and antibiotics can diffuse in the biofilm.
- They do not move as fast as they would in pure water because the cells, EPS, and other constituents of the biofilm hinder their mobility.
- But measurements of diffusion coefficients suggest that these solutes will typically diffuse at rates approximately 20 to 50% of their rate in water.
what two toxin antitoxin (TAS) systems have antisense RNA as there antitoxin?
types 1 and 3
what is the mechanism for toxin neutralisation of type 1 TAS system?
antitoxin blocks mRNA of toxin
what is the mechanism for toxin neutralisation of type 2 TAS system?
direct protein-protein interactions
what is the mechanism for toxin neutralisation of type 3 TAS system?
direct RNA-protein interaction
what is the mechanism for toxin neutralisation of type 4 TAS system?
blockage of toxins effect on cellular target
what is the mechanism for toxin neutralisation of type 5 TAS system?
RNAasa of antitoxin degrades mRNA of toxin
what is the mechanism for toxin neutralisation of type 6 TAS system?
degredation of toxin by ClpXP serine protease
give two examples of cationic antibiotics and how they contact bacteria
tobramycin and gentimycin binds to the negatively charged LPS on the outer membrane
what does the tolA gene product do
- tolA gene product affects LPS structure, resulting in decreased aminoglycoside affinity for the outer membrane
what are dormant persister cells
?
Persister cells, those cells tolerant to antibiotics, usually comprise about 1% in the stationary state and in biofilms (1, 2). These persister cells arise due to a state of dormancy, defined here as a state in which cells are metabolically inactive
- All pathogens produce a small subpopulation of dormant persister cells that are highly tolerant to killing by antibiotics.
what is the dormant phenotype characterised by ?
- Isolation of persisters produced a transcriptome which suggests a dormant phenotype characterized by **downregulation of energy-producing and biosynthetic functions. **
how do RelA and MazF toxins cause dormancy
cleaving mRNA
give two examples of how toxins help in persister formation in e.coli
- HipA toxin inhibits translation by phosphorylating elongation factor Ef-Tu (chronic infections have higher production)
- TisB toxin forms a membrane pore, decrease in pmf (proton motive force) and ATP – making membrane leaky costing energy
what are the three major pathways of persister formation in E.coli K12
- Obg/HokB pathway
- polyphosphate/Lon/mRNA interferase pathway
- TisB pathway
how do type 1 toxins HokB and TisB induce persister formation
Type I toxins HokB and TisB induce persister formation by abolishing proton-motive force (PMF) as membrane-associated peptides,
how do mRNA endonuclease type 2 toxins induce persister formation
10 mRNA endonuclease type II toxins interfere with ribosomal translation.