Department of Food Science & Technology, School of Agriculture & Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong Universitygrid.16821.3c, Shanghai, China.
State Key Lab of Microbial Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
mSphere. 2022 Dec 21;7(6):e0038322. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00383-22. Epub 2022 Oct 26.
The two-component system (TCS) is one of the primary pathways by which bacteria adapt to environmental stresses such as antibiotics. This study aimed to systematically explore the role of TCSs in the development of multidrug resistance (MDR) in Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis. Twenty-six in-frame deletion mutants of TCSs were generated from . Enteritidis SJTUF12367 (the wild type [WT]). Antimicrobial susceptibility tests with these mutants revealed that 10 TCSs were involved in the development of antibiotic resistance in . Enteritidis. In these 10 pairs of TCSs, functional defects in CpxAR, PhoPQ, and GlnGL in various . Enteritidis isolates led to a frequent decrease in MIC values against at least three classes of clinically important antibiotics, including cephalosporins and quinolones, which indicated the importance of these TCSs to the formation of MDR. Interaction network analysis via STRING revealed that the genes , , , and played important roles in the direct interaction with global regulatory genes and the relevant genes of efflux pumps and outer membrane porins. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR analysis further demonstrated that the increased susceptibility to cephalosporins and quinolones in Δ and Δ mutant cells was accompanied by increased expression of membrane porin genes (, , and ) and reduced expression of efflux pump genes (, , and ), as well as an adverse transcription of the global regulatory genes ( and ). These results indicated that CpxAR and PhoPQ played an important role in the development of MDR in . Enteritidis through regulation of cell membrane permeability and efflux pump activity. . Enteritidis is a predominant Salmonella serotype that causes human salmonellosis and frequently exhibits high-level resistance to commonly used antibiotics, including cephalosporins and quinolones. Although TCSs are known as regulators for bacterial adaptation to stressful conditions, which modulates β-lactam resistance in Vibrio parahaemolyticus and colistin resistance in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, there is little knowledge of their functional mechanisms underlying the development of antibiotic resistance in . Enteritidis. Here, we systematically identified the TCS elements in . Enteritidis SJTUF12367, revealed that the three TCSs CpxAR, PhoPQ, and GlnGL were crucial for the MDR formation in . Enteritidis, and preliminarily illustrated the regulatory functions of CpxAR and PhoPQ for antimicrobial resistance genes. Our work provides the basis to understand the important TCSs that regulate formation of antibiotic resistance in . Enteritidis.
双组分系统 (TCS) 是细菌适应抗生素等环境压力的主要途径之一。本研究旨在系统探索 TCS 在肠炎沙门氏菌血清型肠炎亚种多药耐药 (MDR) 发展中的作用。从肠炎沙门氏菌 SJTUF12367(野生型 [WT])中生成了 26 个 TCS 的框内缺失突变体。用这些突变体进行的抗生素药敏试验表明,10 对 TCS 参与了肠炎沙门氏菌的抗生素耐药性发展。在这 10 对 TCS 中,各种肠炎沙门氏菌分离株中 CpxAR、PhoPQ 和 GlnGL 的功能缺陷导致至少三种临床重要抗生素(包括头孢菌素和喹诺酮类药物)的 MIC 值频繁降低,这表明这些 TCS 对 MDR 的形成很重要。通过 STRING 进行的互作网络分析表明,基因 、 、 和 在与全局调控基因和外排泵及外膜孔道蛋白的相关基因的直接互作中发挥重要作用。定量逆转录 PCR 分析进一步表明,Δ 和 Δ 突变细胞对头孢菌素和喹诺酮类药物的敏感性增加伴随着膜孔蛋白基因( 、 、 和 )表达增加和外排泵基因( 、 、 和 )表达减少,以及全局调控基因( 和 )转录水平降低。这些结果表明,CpxAR 和 PhoPQ 通过调节细胞膜通透性和外排泵活性在肠炎沙门氏菌 MDR 的发展中发挥重要作用。肠炎沙门氏菌是引起人类沙门氏菌病的主要沙门氏菌血清型,经常对常用抗生素(包括头孢菌素和喹诺酮类药物)表现出高水平耐药性。尽管 TCS 被认为是细菌适应应激条件的调节剂,可调节副溶血弧菌中的β-内酰胺耐药性和肠炎沙门氏菌血清型 Typhimurium 中的多粘菌素耐药性,但关于它们在肠炎沙门氏菌抗生素耐药性发展中的功能机制知之甚少。在这里,我们系统地鉴定了肠炎沙门氏菌 SJTUF12367 中的 TCS 元件,揭示了三个 TCSs CpxAR、PhoPQ 和 GlnGL 对肠炎沙门氏菌 MDR 的形成至关重要,并初步说明了 CpxAR 和 PhoPQ 对抗菌药物耐药基因的调节功能。我们的工作为理解调节肠炎沙门氏菌抗生素耐药性形成的重要 TCS 提供了基础。