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1.
Nucleic Acids Res ; 52(6): 2961-2976, 2024 Apr 12.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38214222

RESUMO

Integrons are genetic platforms that acquire new genes encoded in integron cassettes (ICs), building arrays of adaptive functions. ICs generally encode promoterless genes, whose expression relies on the platform-associated Pc promoter, with the cassette array functioning as an operon-like structure regulated by the distance to the Pc. This is relevant in large sedentary chromosomal integrons (SCIs) carrying hundreds of ICs, like those in Vibrio species. We selected 29 gene-less cassettes in four Vibrio SCIs, and explored whether their function could be related to the transcription regulation of adjacent ICs. We show that most gene-less cassettes have promoter activity on the sense strand, enhancing the expression of downstream cassettes. Additionally, we identified the transcription start sites of gene-less ICs through 5'-RACE. Accordingly, we found that most of the superintegron in Vibrio cholerae is not silent. These promoter cassettes can trigger the expression of a silent dfrB9 cassette downstream, increasing trimethoprim resistance >512-fold in V. cholerae and Escherichia coli. Furthermore, one cassette with an antisense promoter can reduce trimethoprim resistance when cloned downstream. Our findings highlight the regulatory role of gene-less cassettes in the expression of adjacent cassettes, emphasizing their significance in SCIs and their clinical importance if captured by mobile integrons.


Assuntos
Integrons , Vibrio , Integrons/genética , Regiões Promotoras Genéticas , Vibrio/genética , Vibrio cholerae/genética , Vibrionaceae/genética
2.
Nucleic Acids Res ; 50(15): 8566-8579, 2022 08 26.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35947699

RESUMO

Regulation of gene expression is a key factor influencing the success of antimicrobial resistance determinants. A variety of determinants conferring resistance against aminoglycosides (Ag) are commonly found in clinically relevant bacteria, but whether their expression is regulated or not is controversial. The expression of several Ag resistance genes has been reported to be controlled by a riboswitch mechanism encoded in a conserved sequence. Yet this sequence corresponds to the integration site of an integron, a genetic platform that recruits genes of different functions, making the presence of such a riboswitch counterintuitive. We provide, for the first time, experimental evidence against the existence of such Ag-sensing riboswitch. We first tried to reproduce the induction of the well characterized aacA5 gene using its native genetic environment, but were unsuccessful. We then broadened our approach and analyzed the inducibility of all AgR genes encoded in integrons against a variety of antibiotics. We could not observe biologically relevant induction rates for any gene in the presence of several aminoglycosides. Instead, unrelated antibiotics produced mild but consistently higher increases in expression, that were the result of pleiotropic effects. Our findings rule out the riboswitch control of aminoglycoside resistance genes in integrons.


Assuntos
Integrons , Riboswitch , Integrons/genética , Aminoglicosídeos/farmacologia , Riboswitch/genética , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Bactérias/genética
3.
Nucleic Acids Res ; 44(16): 7792-803, 2016 09 19.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27496283

RESUMO

The integron is a bacterial recombination system that allows acquisition, stockpiling and expression of cassettes carrying protein-coding sequences, and is responsible for the emergence and rise of multiresistance in Gram-negative bacteria. The functionality of this system depends on the insertion of promoterless cassettes in correct orientation, allowing their expression from the promoter located upstream of the cassette array. Correct orientation is ensured by strand selectivity of integron integrases for the bottom strand of cassette recombination sites (attC), recombined in form of folded single-stranded hairpins. Here, we investigated the basis of such strand selectivity by comparing recombination of wild-type and mutated attC sites with different lengths, sequences and structures. We show that all three unpaired structural features that distinguish the bottom and top strands contribute to strand selectivity. The localization of Extra-Helical Bases (EHBs) directly favors integrase binding to the bottom strand. The Unpaired Central Spacer (UCS) and the Variable Terminal Structure (VTS) influence strand selectivity indirectly, probably through the stabilization of the bottom strand and the resulting synapse due to the nucleotide skew between the two strands. These results underscore the importance of the single-stranded nature of the attC site that allows such tight control over integron cassette orientation.


Assuntos
Sítios de Ligação Microbiológicos/genética , Integrons/genética , Mutagênese Insercional/genética , Recombinação Genética , Sequência de Bases , DNA Intergênico , Ensaio de Desvio de Mobilidade Eletroforética , Modelos Biológicos , Mutação/genética , Conformação de Ácido Nucleico
4.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28396550

RESUMO

In this study, we characterized two tigecycline-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from dog urine samples. The isolates were genetically unrelated, belonging to sequence type 11 (ST11) and ST147, both classically related to human isolates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first identification of tigecycline-resistant isolates from animals. We unveil here the worrisome circulation among animals of bacterial clones resistant to this last-resort antibiotic.


Assuntos
Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Minociclina/análogos & derivados , Animais , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Farmacorresistência Bacteriana/genética , Humanos , Klebsiella pneumoniae/efeitos dos fármacos , Klebsiella pneumoniae/genética , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana , Minociclina/farmacologia , Tigeciclina
5.
J Antimicrob Chemother ; 70(11): 3000-3, 2015 Nov.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26209313

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: Carbapenemases are a major concern for the treatment of infectious diseases caused by Gram-negative bacteria. Although plasmids are responsible for the spread of resistance genes among these pathogens, there is limited information on the nature of the mobile genetic elements carrying carbapenemases in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. METHODS: We combined data from two different next-generation sequencing platforms, Illumina HiSeq2000 and PacBio RSII, to obtain the complete nucleotide sequences of two blaVIM-1-carrying plasmids (pAMBL1 and pAMBL2) isolated from P. aeruginosa clinical isolates. RESULTS: Plasmid pAMBL1 has 26 440 bp and carries a RepA_C family replication protein. pAMBL1 is similar to plasmids pNOR-2000 and pKLC102 from P. aeruginosa and pAX22 from Achromobacter xylosoxidans, which also carry VIM-type carbapenemases. pAMBL2 is a 24 133 bp plasmid with a replication protein that belongs to the Rep_3 family. It shows a high degree of homology with a fragment of the blaVIM-1-bearing plasmid pPC9 from Pseudomonas putida. Plasmid pAMBL2 carries three copies of the blaVIM-1 cassette in an In70 class 1 integron conferring, unlike pAMBL1, high-level resistance to carbapenems. CONCLUSIONS: We present two new plasmids coding for VIM-1 carbapenemase from P. aeruginosa and report that the presence of three copies of blaVIM-1 in pAMBL2 produces high-level resistance to carbapenems.


Assuntos
Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Carbapenêmicos/farmacologia , Plasmídeos , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/efeitos dos fármacos , Resistência beta-Lactâmica , Achromobacter denitrificans/genética , DNA Bacteriano/química , DNA Bacteriano/genética , Dosagem de Genes , Humanos , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/genética , Pseudomonas putida/genética , Análise de Sequência de DNA , Homologia de Sequência , beta-Lactamases/genética , beta-Lactamases/metabolismo
6.
J Bacteriol ; 196(4): 762-71, 2014 Feb.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24296671

RESUMO

Integrons play a major role in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes among bacteria. Rearrangement of gene cassettes occurs by recombination between attI and attC sites, catalyzed by the integron integrase. Integron recombination uses an unconventional mechanism involving a folded single-stranded attC site. This site could be a target for several host factors and more precisely for proteins able to bind single-stranded DNA. One of these, Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB), regulates many DNA processes. We studied the influence of this protein on integron recombination. Our results show the ability of SSB to strongly bind folded attC sites and to destabilize them. This effect was observed only in the absence of the integrase. Indeed, we provided evidence that the integrase is able to counterbalance the observed effect of SSB on attC site folding. We showed that IntI1 possesses an intrinsic property to capture attC sites at the moment of their extrusion, stabilizing them and recombining them efficiently. The stability of DNA secondary structures in the chromosome must be restrained to avoid genetic instability (mutations or deletions) and/or toxicity (replication arrest). SSB, which hampers attC site folding in the absence of the integrase, likely plays an important role in maintaining the integrity and thus the recombinogenic functionality of the integron attC sites. We also tested the RecA host factor and excluded any role of this protein in integron recombination.


Assuntos
Sítios de Ligação Microbiológicos , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/metabolismo , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Escherichia coli/enzimologia , Integrases/metabolismo , Integrons , DNA Bacteriano/metabolismo , Escherichia coli/genética , Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Conformação de Ácido Nucleico , Ligação Proteica , Recombinação Genética
7.
Nucleic Acids Res ; 40(17): 8361-70, 2012 Sep 01.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-22740653

RESUMO

Site-specific recombination catalyzed by tyrosine recombinases follows a common pathway consisting of two consecutive strand exchanges. The first strand exchange generates a Holliday junction (HJ), which is resolved by a second strand exchange. In integrons, attC sites recombine as folded single-stranded substrates. Only one of the two attC site strands, the bottom one, is efficiently bound and cleaved by the integrase during the insertion of gene cassettes at the double-stranded attI site. Due to the asymmetry of this complex, a second strand exchange on the attC bottom strand (bs) would form linearized abortive recombination products. We had proposed that HJ resolution would rely on an uncharacterized mechanism, probably replication. Using an attC site carried on a plasmid with each strand specifically tagged, we followed the destiny of each strand after recombination. We demonstrated that only one strand, the one carrying the attC bs, is exchanged. Furthermore, we show that the recombination products contain the attC site bs and its entire de novo synthesized complementary strand. Therefore, we demonstrate the replicative resolution of single-strand recombination in integrons and rule out the involvement of a second strand exchange of any kind in the attC×attI reaction.


Assuntos
Replicação do DNA , Integrons , Recombinação Genética , Sítios de Ligação Microbiológicos , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , DNA Helicases/metabolismo , DNA Cruciforme/metabolismo , Endodesoxirribonucleases/metabolismo , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/metabolismo
8.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother ; 57(7): 3430-3, 2013 Jul.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23650171

RESUMO

Streptococcus suis is an emerging zoonotic agent responsible for high-mortality outbreaks among the human population in China. In this species, the ABC transporter SatAB mediates fluoroquinolone resistance when overexpressed. Here, we describe and characterize satR, an open reading frame (ORF) encoding a MarR superfamily regulator that acts as a repressor of satAB. satR is cotranscribed with satAB, and its interruption entails the overexpression of the pump, leading to a clinically relevant increase in resistance to fluoroquinolones.


Assuntos
Transportadores de Cassetes de Ligação de ATP/genética , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Fluoroquinolonas/farmacologia , Proteínas Repressoras/genética , Streptococcus suis/genética , Transportadores de Cassetes de Ligação de ATP/metabolismo , Antibacterianos/metabolismo , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Sequência de Bases , Fluoroquinolonas/metabolismo , Regulação Bacteriana da Expressão Gênica , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana , Mutação , Fases de Leitura Aberta , Óperon , Proteínas Repressoras/metabolismo , Análise de Sequência de DNA , Streptococcus suis/efeitos dos fármacos , Streptococcus suis/enzimologia , Transcrição Gênica
9.
Science ; 382(6673): eadh3860, 2023 11 24.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37995212

RESUMO

Fitness landscape theory predicts that rugged landscapes with multiple peaks impair Darwinian evolution, but experimental evidence is limited. In this study, we used genome editing to map the fitness of >260,000 genotypes of the key metabolic enzyme dihydrofolate reductase in the presence of the antibiotic trimethoprim, which targets this enzyme. The resulting landscape is highly rugged and harbors 514 fitness peaks. However, its highest peaks are accessible to evolving populations via abundant fitness-increasing paths. Different peaks share large basins of attraction that render the outcome of adaptive evolution highly contingent on chance events. Our work shows that ruggedness need not be an obstacle to Darwinian evolution but can reduce its predictability. If true in general, the complexity of optimization problems on realistic landscapes may require reappraisal.


Assuntos
Proteínas de Escherichia coli , Aptidão Genética , Tetra-Hidrofolato Desidrogenase , Modelos Genéticos , Mutação , Tetra-Hidrofolato Desidrogenase/química , Tetra-Hidrofolato Desidrogenase/genética , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/química , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/genética , Edição de Genes , Sistemas CRISPR-Cas , Seleção Genética , Simulação por Computador
10.
Psychol Res Behav Manag ; 16: 1127-1139, 2023.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37063616

RESUMO

Purpose: Classic studies mainly of European-American families broadly identify the benefits of parental strictness combined with parental warmth. However, current research tends to identify parental warmth as positive for adjustment, even without parental strictness. In addition, less is known about the relationship between parenting and adjustment beyond adolescence. The present study examined warmth and strictness and its relationship with self, sexism, and stimulation values. Self-esteem, academic-professional self-concept, benevolent sexism, and stimulation values were used to capture adjustment. Patients and Methods: Participants (n = 1125) were adolescents and adult children of middle-age from Spain. The statistical analyses used were correlation analysis and multiple linear regression. Results: In general, the relationship between parenting and adjustment was found to have a similar pattern for adolescent and middle-aged adult children, although more marked in adolescents. Parental warmth and strictness were predictors of adjustment, but in a different direction. Specifically, parental warmth positively predicted academic-professional self-concept and self-esteem, whereas parental strictness was detrimental as a predictor of higher benevolent sexism. Conclusion: Overall, the present findings suggest that an effective socialization during the socialization years and even beyond can be positively predicted by parental warmth, whereas parental strictness might be unnecessary or even detrimental.

11.
Microb Genom ; 8(3)2022 03.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35259085

RESUMO

Salmonella Kentucky is commonly found in poultry and rarely associated with human disease. However, a multidrug-resistant (MDR) S. Kentucky clone [sequence type (ST)198] has been increasingly reported globally in humans and animals. Our aim here was to assess if the recently reported increase of S. Kentucky in poultry in Spain was associated with the ST198 clone and to characterize this MDR clone and its distribution in Spain. Sixty-six isolates retrieved from turkey, laying hen and broiler in 2011-2017 were subjected to whole-genome sequencing to assess their sequence type, genetic relatedness, and presence of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), plasmid replicons and virulence factors. Thirteen strains were further analysed using long-read sequencing technologies to characterize the genetic background associated with ARGs. All isolates belonged to the ST198 clone and were grouped in three clades associated with the presence of a specific point mutation in the gyrA gene, their geographical origin and isolation year. All strains carried between one and 16 ARGs whose presence correlated with the resistance phenotype to between two and eight antimicrobials. The ARGs were located in the Salmonella genomic island (SGI-1) and in some cases (blaSHV-12, catA1, cmlA1, dfrA and multiple aminoglycoside-resistance genes) in IncHI2/IncI1 plasmids, some of which were consistently detected in different years/farms in certain regions, suggesting they could persist over time. Our results indicate that the MDR S. Kentucky ST198 is present in all investigated poultry hosts in Spain, and that certain strains also carry additional plasmid-mediated ARGs, thus increasing its potential public health significance.


Assuntos
Aves Domésticas , Salmonella enterica , Animais , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Galinhas , Farmacorresistência Bacteriana Múltipla/genética , Feminino , Genômica , Kentucky , Salmonella/genética , Salmonella enterica/genética , Sorogrupo , Espanha/epidemiologia
12.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother ; 55(11): 5262-6, 2011 Nov.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-21859937

RESUMO

The 16S rRNA methyltransferase ArmA is a worldwide emerging determinant that confers high-level resistance to most clinically relevant aminoglycosides. We report here the identification and characterization of a multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica subspecies I.4,12:i:- isolate recovered from chicken meat sampled in a supermarket on February 2009 in La Reunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean. Susceptibility testing showed an unusually high-level resistance to gentamicin, as well as to ampicillin, expanded-spectrum cephalosporins and amoxicillin-clavulanate. Molecular analysis of the 16S rRNA methyltransferases revealed presence of the armA gene, together with bla(TEM-1), bla(CMY-2), and bla(CTX-M-3). All of these genes could be transferred en bloc through conjugation into Escherichia coli at a frequency of 10(-5) CFU/donor. Replicon typing and S1 pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed that the armA gene was borne on an ~150-kb broad-host-range IncP plasmid, pB1010. To elucidate how armA had integrated in pB1010, a PCR mapping strategy was developed for Tn1548, the genetic platform for armA. The gene was embedded in a Tn1548-like structure, albeit with a deletion of the macrolide resistance genes, and an IS26 was inserted within the mel gene. To our knowledge, this is the first report of ArmA methyltransferase in food, showing a novel route of transmission for this resistance determinant. Further surveillance in food-borne bacteria will be crucial to determine the role of food in the spread of 16S rRNA methyltransferase genes worldwide.


Assuntos
Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Microbiologia de Alimentos , Metiltransferases/metabolismo , Salmonella enterica/enzimologia , Aminoglicosídeos/farmacologia , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Farmacorresistência Bacteriana/genética , Escherichia coli/efeitos dos fármacos , Escherichia coli/genética , Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Metiltransferases/genética , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Salmonella enterica/efeitos dos fármacos
13.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother ; 55(12): 5850-60, 2011 Dec.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-21930876

RESUMO

Streptococcus suis is an emerging zoonotic pathogen. With the lack of an effective vaccine, antibiotics remain the main tool to fight infections caused by this pathogen. We have previously observed a reserpine-sensitive fluoroquinolone (FQ) efflux phenotype in this species. Here, SatAB and SmrA, two pumps belonging to the ATP binding cassette (ABC) and the major facilitator superfamily (MFS), respectively, have been analyzed in the fluoroquinolone-resistant clinical isolate BB1013. Genes encoding these pumps were overexpressed either constitutively or in the presence of ciprofloxacin in this strain. These genes could not be cloned in plasmids in Escherichia coli despite strong expression repression. Finally, site-directed insertion of smrA and satAB in the amy locus of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome using ligated PCR amplicons allowed for the functional expression and study of both pumps. Results showed that SatAB is a narrow-spectrum fluoroquinolone exporter (norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin), susceptible to reserpine, whereas SmrA was not involved in fluoroquinolone resistance. Chromosomal integration in Bacillus is a novel method for studying efflux pumps from Gram-positive bacteria, which enabled us to demonstrate the possible role of SatAB, and not SmrA, in fluoroquinolone efflux in S. suis.


Assuntos
Anti-Infecciosos/metabolismo , Farmacorresistência Bacteriana , Fluoroquinolonas/metabolismo , Streptococcus suis/efeitos dos fármacos , Transportadores de Cassetes de Ligação de ATP/química , Transportadores de Cassetes de Ligação de ATP/genética , Transportadores de Cassetes de Ligação de ATP/metabolismo , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Anti-Infecciosos/farmacologia , Bacillus subtilis/genética , Proteínas de Bactérias/química , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Sequência de Bases , Fluoroquinolonas/farmacologia , Humanos , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Análise de Sequência com Séries de Oligonucleotídeos , Fenótipo , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase , Análise de Sequência de DNA , Streptococcus suis/metabolismo
14.
J Antimicrob Chemother ; 66(1): 96-9, 2011 Jan.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-20978001

RESUMO

OBJECTIVES: plasmid pB1000 bearing bla(ROB-1) is responsible for high-level ß-lactam resistance in Haemophilus influenzae as well as in Pasteurella multocida and Haemophilus parasuis isolates from Spain. Here, we explore the presence of ROB-1 in Italy and investigate the relative contribution of penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP3) mutations and ROB-1 to the ß-lactam resistance phenotype in H. influenzae. METHODS: the collection of the Italian Reference Laboratory of H. influenzae was investigated for ROB-1-positive isolates between 2004 and 2009. H. influenzae Rd KW20 was used as recipient for pB1000 electroporation and for mutagenesis of the ftsI gene encoding PBP3. RESULTS: the presence of plasmid pB1000 in a non-typeable H. influenzae isolated in Italy, BB1059, is reported in this work. This strain is not genetically related to the H. influenzae clinical isolates bearing pB1000 described in Spain. The sequence of ftsI from BB1059 revealed several mutations in the predicted amino acid sequence of PBP3. To determine the relative contribution of pB1000 and PBP3 mutations to the ß-lactam resistance phenotype of BB1059, H. influenzae Rd KW20 was transformed with ftsI and/or pB1000 from BB1059. ß-Lactam resistance profiles revealed the additive effect of pB1000 and PBP3 mutations conferring resistance to ß-lactams, including amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and third-generation cephalosporins. CONCLUSIONS: intra-European spread of plasmid pB1000 among H. influenzae has been shown. The coexistence of plasmid pB1000 and mutations in PBP3 produces an additive resistance phenotype in H. influenzae.


Assuntos
Combinação Amoxicilina e Clavulanato de Potássio/farmacologia , Haemophilus influenzae/efeitos dos fármacos , Mutação de Sentido Incorreto , Proteínas de Ligação às Penicilinas/genética , Plasmídeos/análise , Resistência beta-Lactâmica , beta-Lactamases/genética , Adulto , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Eletroporação , Infecções por Haemophilus/microbiologia , Haemophilus influenzae/genética , Haemophilus influenzae/isolamento & purificação , Humanos , Itália , Masculino , Transformação Bacteriana
15.
Elife ; 102021 02 26.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33634790

RESUMO

Mobile integrons are widespread genetic platforms that allow bacteria to modulate the expression of antibiotic resistance cassettes by shuffling their position from a common promoter. Antibiotic stress induces the expression of an integrase that excises and integrates cassettes, and this unique recombination and expression system is thought to allow bacteria to 'evolve on demand' in response to antibiotic pressure. To test this hypothesis, we inserted a custom three-cassette integron into Pseudomonas aeruginosa and used experimental evolution to measure the impact of integrase activity on adaptation to gentamicin. Crucially, integrase activity accelerated evolution by increasing the expression of a gentamicin resistance cassette through duplications and by eliminating redundant cassettes. Importantly, we found no evidence of deleterious off-target effects of integrase activity. In summary, integrons accelerate resistance evolution by rapidly generating combinatorial variation in cassette composition while maintaining genomic integrity.


From urinary tract infections to bacterial pneumonia, many diseases can now be treated through a course of antibiotics. Yet bacteria have evolved to respond to this threat, gaining new antibiotic resistance genes that allow them to evade the drugs. Addressing this growing issue requires to either discover new antibiotics, or to stop resistance before it emerges ­ a strategy that can only work if scientists know exactly how this mechanism takes place. For bacteria, it is a waste of resources to produce the proteins that confer resistance if antibiotics are absent. In fact, doing so can decrease their chance to survive and reproduce. A genetic element known as an integron can help to manage that burden. This piece of genetic information is formed of a succession of 'cassettes' containing antibiotic resistance genes. More proteins are made from the genes present at the start of the integron, compared to the ones towards the end. When bacteria encounter antibiotics, an enzyme called integrase is activated, allowing the organisms to shuffle the order of their cassettes in the integron. It is thought ­ but not yet proven ­ that this mechanism helps bacteria to activate their resistance 'on demand'. To find out, Souque et al. engineered the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa to carry a custom integron with three cassettes, each helping the organism to resist to a different antibiotic. In addition, only half of the bacteria had a working integrase and could therefore shuffle their gene cassettes. The organisms were then exposed to an increasing amount of the antibiotics for which the cassette in the last position provided resistance. The bacteria with a working integrase survived longer than those without, as they were able to shuffle their cassettes and move the useful antibiotic resistance gene into top position. In addition, the cassettes carrying the genes to resist to other types of antibiotics were excised from the genetic information and lost. Understanding integrons could guide future antibiotic treatment strategies, for instance by combining antibiotics with chemicals that block integrase activity. It might also be possible to force bacteria to delete resistance cassettes by cycling through different antibiotics.


Assuntos
Farmacorresistência Bacteriana/genética , Evolução Molecular , Integrons/genética , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/genética , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/efeitos dos fármacos
16.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother ; 54(4): 1506-11, 2010 Apr.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-20086141

RESUMO

Plasmid pB1000 is a mobilizable replicon bearing the bla(ROB-1) beta-lactamase gene that we have recently described in Haemophilus parasuis and Pasteurella multocida animal isolates. Here we report the presence of pB1000 and a derivative plasmid, pB1000', in four Haemophilus influenzae clinical isolates of human origin. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed unrelated patterns in all strains, indicating that the existence of pB1000 in H. influenzae isolates is not the consequence of clonal dissemination. The replicon can be transferred both by transformation and by conjugation into H. influenzae, giving rise to recipients resistant to ampicillin and cefaclor (MICs, > or =64 microg/ml). Stability experiments showed that pB1000 is stable in H. influenzae without antimicrobial pressure for at least 60 generations. Competition experiments between isogenic H. influenzae strains with and without pB1000 revealed a competitive disadvantage of 9% per 10 generations for the transformant versus the recipient. The complete nucleotide sequences of nine pB1000 plasmids from human and animal isolates, as well as the epidemiological data, suggest that animal isolates belonging to the Pasteurellaceae act as an antimicrobial resistance reservoir for H. influenzae. Further, since P. multocida is the only member of this family that can colonize both humans and animals, we propose that P. multocida is the vehicle for the transport of pB1000 between animal- and human-adapted members of the Pasteurellaceae.


Assuntos
Infecções por Haemophilus/microbiologia , Haemophilus influenzae/genética , Haemophilus influenzae/isolamento & purificação , Plasmídeos/genética , Animais , Cefaclor/farmacologia , Conjugação Genética , Farmacorresistência Bacteriana/genética , Infecções por Haemophilus/tratamento farmacológico , Infecções por Haemophilus/epidemiologia , Haemophilus influenzae/efeitos dos fármacos , Haemophilus influenzae/enzimologia , Humanos , Epidemiologia Molecular , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Pasteurella multocida/genética , Replicon , Espanha/epidemiologia , Especificidade da Espécie , Transformação Genética , beta-Lactamases/genética
17.
Elife ; 92020 12 15.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33319743

RESUMO

Molecular examples of evolutionary innovation are scarce and generally involve point mutations. Innovation can occur through larger rearrangements, but here experimental data is extremely limited. Integron integrases innovated from double-strand- toward single-strand-DNA recombination through the acquisition of the I2 α-helix. To investigate how this transition was possible, we have evolved integrase IntI1 to what should correspond to an early innovation state by selecting for its ancestral activity. Using synonymous alleles to enlarge sequence space exploration, we have retrieved 13 mutations affecting both I2 and the multimerization domains of IntI1. We circumvented epistasis constraints among them using a combinatorial library that revealed their individual and collective fitness effects. We obtained up to 104-fold increases in ancestral activity with various asymmetrical trade-offs in single-strand-DNA recombination. We show that high levels of primary and promiscuous functions could have initially coexisted following I2 acquisition, paving the way for a gradual evolution toward innovation.


Assuntos
Evolução Biológica , Epistasia Genética/genética , Integrases/genética , Animais , Sequenciamento de Nucleotídeos em Larga Escala , Humanos , Domínios Proteicos
18.
Methods Mol Biol ; 2075: 189-208, 2020.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31584164

RESUMO

Integrons are genetic elements involved in bacterial adaptation to the environment. Sedentary chromosomal integrons (SCIs) can stockpile and rearrange a myriad of different functions encoded in gene cassettes. Through their association with transposable elements and conjugative plasmids, some SCIs have acquired mobility and are now termed Mobile Integrons (MIs). MIs have reached the hospitals and are involved in the rise and spread of antibiotic resistance genes through horizontal gene transfer among numerous bacterial species. Here we aimed at describing methods for the detection of integrons in sequenced bacterial genomes as well as for the experimental characterization of the activity of their different components: the integrase and the recombination sites.


Assuntos
Bactérias/genética , Biologia Computacional/métodos , Genoma Bacteriano , Integrons , Recombinação Genética , Software , Deleção Cromossômica , Conjugação Genética , Elementos de DNA Transponíveis , Transferência Genética Horizontal
19.
Behav Sci (Basel) ; 10(6)2020 Jun 16.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32560214

RESUMO

Classical studies have found that parental warmth combined with parental strictness is the best parental strategy to promote children's psychosocial development. Nevertheless, a growing set of emergent studies has questioned the benefits of parental strictness. The present study examined parental socialization and its short- and long-term impact on the psychosocial development of adolescents and adult children. The sample consisted of 2150 Spanish participants, 623 adolescents (12-18 years), 619 young adults (19-35 years), 502 middle-aged adults (35-59 years), and 406 older adults (60 years or older). Families were classified into one of four typologies (indulgent, authoritative, authoritarian, and neglectful). Psychosocial development was examined with five indicators (physical and family self-concept, nervousness, empathy, and internalization of social values of benevolence). The results show a common short- and long-term pattern between parenting styles and psychosocial development: the indulgent style equaled or even surpassed the authoritative style, whereas the neglectful and authoritarian styles were associated with low scores. The present findings were discussed by considering the importance of the cultural context in family socialization. Additionally, the long-term impact of parental socialization seems to be crucial, even in adulthood.

20.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother ; 53(8): 3399-404, 2009 Aug.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-19528282

RESUMO

In most gram-negative bacteria, acquired multiresistance is conferred by large plasmids compiling numerous antimicrobial resistance genes. Here, we show an evolutionary alternative strategy used by Pasteurella multocida to become resistant to multiple clinically relevant antibiotics. Thirteen beta-lactam-resistant clinical isolates, concomitantly resistant to tetracyclines and/or streptomycin as well as to sulfonamides, were studied. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis revealed different profiles among the isolates, showing that clonal dissemination was not the sole event responsible for the spread of multiresistance. Each P. multocida strain carried two or three small plasmids between 4 and 6 kb in size. A direct association between resistance profile and plasmid content was found. Complete nucleotide sequencing of all plasmids revealed seven different replicons, six of them belonging to the ColE1 superfamily. All plasmids carried one, or a maximum of two, antimicrobial resistance determinants. Plasmids pB1000 and pB1002 bore bla(ROB-1), pB1001 carried tet(B), pB1003 and pB1005 carried sul2 and strA, pB1006 harbored tet(O), and p9956 bore the tet(H) gene. All plasmids except pB1002 and pB1006 were successfully transformed into Escherichia coli. pB1000, also involved in beta-lactam resistance in Haemophilus parasuis (A. San Millan et al., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51:2260-2264, 2007), was mobilized in E. coli using the conjugation machinery of an IncP plasmid. Stability experiments proved that pB1000 was stable in P. multocida but highly unstable in E. coli. In conclusion, bla(ROB-1) is responsible for beta-lactam resistance in P. multocida in Spain. Coexistence and the spread of small plasmids are used by P. multocida to become multiresistant.


Assuntos
Farmacorresistência Bacteriana Múltipla/genética , Pasteurella multocida/efeitos dos fármacos , Plasmídeos/fisiologia , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Southern Blotting , Eletroforese em Gel de Campo Pulsado , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Pasteurella multocida/genética , Plasmídeos/genética , Análise de Sequência de DNA , Estreptomicina/farmacologia , Sulfonamidas/farmacologia , Tetraciclinas/farmacologia
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