Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group (AMR IRG), Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Centre, Singapore 117576, Singapore.
Signature Research Program in Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disorders, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore 169857, Singapore.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Jun 26;25(13):7009. doi: 10.3390/ijms25137009.
Multidrug-resistant infections pose a serious public health threat due to the rise in antimicrobial resistance. Phage therapy has emerged as a promising alternative. However, has evolved various mechanisms to thwart phage attacks, making it crucial to decipher these resistance mechanisms to develop effective therapeutic strategies. In this study, we conducted a forward-genetic screen of the PA14 non-redundant transposon library (PA14NR) to identify dominant-negative mutants displaying phage-resistant phenotypes. Our screening process revealed 78 mutants capable of thriving in the presence of phages, with 23 of them carrying insertions in genes associated with membrane composition. Six mutants exhibited total resistance to phage infection. Transposon insertions were found in genes known to be linked to phage-resistance such as and a glycosyl transferase gene, as well as novel genes such as , , and two hypothetical proteins. Functional experiments demonstrated that these genes played pivotal roles in phage adsorption and biofilm formation, indicating that altering the bacterial membrane composition commonly leads to phage resistance in . Importantly, these mutants displayed phenotypic trade-offs, as their resistance to phages inversely affected antibiotic resistance and hindered biofilm formation, shedding light on the complex interplay between phage susceptibility and bacterial fitness. This study highlights the potential of transposon mutant libraries and forward-genetic screens in identifying key genes involved in phage-host interactions and resistance mechanisms. These findings support the development of innovative strategies for combating antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
由于抗菌药物耐药性的增加,多药耐药感染对公共健康构成了严重威胁。噬菌体治疗作为一种很有前途的替代方法已经出现。然而, 已经进化出各种机制来抵御噬菌体的攻击,因此,解析这些耐药机制对于开发有效的治疗策略至关重要。在这项研究中,我们对 PA14 非冗余转座子文库(PA14NR)进行了正向遗传筛选,以鉴定表现出噬菌体抗性表型的显性负突变体。我们的筛选过程发现了 78 个能够在噬菌体存在的情况下茁壮成长的突变体,其中 23 个携带插入与膜组成相关的基因。六个突变体对噬菌体感染表现出完全抗性。转座子插入发生在与噬菌体抗性相关的基因中,如 和糖苷转移酶基因,以及新的基因,如 、 和两个假设蛋白。功能实验表明,这些基因在噬菌体吸附和生物膜形成中起着关键作用,这表明改变细菌膜组成通常会导致 对噬菌体的耐药性。重要的是,这些突变体表现出表型权衡,因为它们对噬菌体的抗性与抗生素抗性呈反比,并且阻碍了生物膜的形成,这揭示了噬菌体易感性和细菌适应性之间的复杂相互作用。这项研究强调了转座子突变体文库和正向遗传筛选在鉴定参与噬菌体-宿主相互作用和耐药机制的关键基因方面的潜力。这些发现支持了开发针对抗生素耐药病原体的创新策略的研究。