Cell envelope impermeability to daptomycin inPseudomonas aeruginosa andPasteurella multocida

Influence of outer membrane permeabilization on intrinsic resistance to the hydrophobic biocide triclosan in opportunistic Serratia species

Triclosan is a hydrophobic antimicrobial agent commonly employed in health care settings. While it exhibits broad-spectrum antibacterial properties, the gram-negative nosocomial opportunists Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Serratia marcescens are atypically refractory. Intrinsic resistance to triclosan in P. aeruginosa is largely due to its outer membrane impermeability properties for hydrophobic and bulky substances. The present study was undertaken to determine the relationship between triclosan and the outer cell envelopes of thirteen strains of ten Serratia species reported to be opportunistic pathogens in humans. General intrinsic resistance to hydrophobic and other outer membrane impermeant compounds was assessed using cultural selection, disk agar diffusion, and macrobroth dilution bioassays. Uptake of the hydrophobic fluorescent probe 1-N-phenylnapthylamine was assessed in four disparate strains of S. marcescens. Batch culture kinetics in the presence of combinations of triclosan and outer membrane permeabilizer compound 48/80 allowed analysis of outer membrane involvement in intrinsic resistance. Aggregate results revealed that individual species ranged in response to hydrophobic and bulky molecules from generally refractory to extremely susceptible. Moreover, susceptivity to triclosan sensitization by chemical disruption of outer membrane exclusionary properties differed markedly among species which exhibited intrinsic resistance to triclosan. These data suggest that disparate opportunistic pathogens within the genus Serratia differ phenotypically regarding the degree to which outer membrane exclusion contributes to intrinsic resistance for impermeant molecules in general, and triclosan specifically. Ancillary resistance mechanisms appear to contribute in some species and may involve constitutive multi-drug efflux systems. Importance A paucity of knowledge exists regarding the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which opportunistically pathogenic members of the genus Serratia are able to infect immunocompromised and otherwise susceptible individuals, and then evade chemotherapy. This is especially true for species other than Serratia marcescens and Serratia liquefaciens, although much remains to be learned with regard to the nature of key virulence factors and infection mechanisms which allow for the typically nosocomial acquisition of even these species. The research described in the present study will provide a better understanding of the contribution of outer cell envelope permeability properties to the pathogenicity of these opportunistic species in an ever-increasing susceptible patient population. It is our hope that greater knowledge of the basic biology of these organisms will contribute to the mitigation of suffering they cause in patients with underlying diseases.

Disparate properties of Burkholderia multivorans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa regarding outer membrane chemical permeabilization to the hydrophobic substances novobiocin and triclosan

Burkholderia multivorans causes opportunistic pulmonary infections and is intrinsically resistant to many antibacterial compounds including the hydrophobic biocide triclosan. Chemical permeabilization of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa outer membrane affects sensitization to hydrophobic substances. The purpose of the present study was to determine if B. multivorans is similarly susceptive suggesting that outer membrane impermeability properties underlie triclosan resistance. Antibiograms and conventional macrobroth dilution bioassays were employed to establish baseline susceptibility levels to hydrophobic antibacterial compounds. Outer membrane permeabilizers compound 48/80, polymyxin B, polymyxin B-nonapeptide, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid were used in attempts to sensitize disparate B. multivorans isolates to the hydrophobic agents novobiocin and triclosan, and to potentiate partitioning of the hydrophobic fluorescent probe 1-N-phenylnapthylamine (NPN). The lipophilic agent resistance profiles for all B. multivorans strains were essentially the same as that of P. aeruginosa except that they were resistant to polymyxin B. Moreover, they resisted sensitization to hydrophobic compounds and remained inaccessible to NPN when treated with outer membrane permeabilizers. These data support the notion that while both phylogenetically-related organisms exhibit general intrinsic resistance properties to hydrophobic substances, the outer membrane of B. multivorans either resists permeabilization by chemical modification or sensitization is mitigated by a supplemental mechanism not present in P. aeruginosa.

Mutant Alleles of lptD Increase the Permeability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Define Determinants of Intrinsic Resistance to Antibiotics

Gram-negative bacteria provide a particular challenge to antibacterial drug discovery due to their cell envelope structure. Compound entry is impeded by the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the outer membrane (OM), and those molecules that overcome this barrier are often expelled by multidrug efflux pumps. Understanding how efflux and permeability affect the ability of a compound to reach its target is paramount to translating in vitro biochemical potency to cellular bioactivity. Herein, a suite of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were constructed in either a wild-type or efflux-null background in which mutations were engineered in LptD, the final protein involved in LPS transport to the OM. These mutants were demonstrated to be defective in LPS transport, resulting in compromised barrier function. Using isogenic strain sets harboring these newly created alleles, we were able to define the contributions of permeability and efflux to the intrinsic resistance of P. aeruginosa to a variety of antibiotics. These strains will be useful in the design and optimization of future antibiotics against Gram-negative pathogens.

Susceptibility of compound 48/80-sensitized Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the hydrophobic biocide triclosan

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is intrinsically resistant to the hydrophobic biocide triclosan, and yet it can be sensitized to low concentrations by permeabilization of the outer membrane using compound 48/80. A selective plating assay revealed that compound 48/80-permeabilized YM64, a triclosan-recognizing efflux pump-deficient variant, was unable to initiate growth on a medium containing triclosan. Macrobroth dilution assay data revealed that treatment with compound 48/80 synergistically decreased minimal inhibitory concentrations of the hydrophobic antibacterial agents rifamycin SV and chloramphenicol for all cell envelope variant strains examined. A low concentration of triclosan exerted a transient bactericidal effect on permeabilized wild-type strain PAO1, after which exponential growth resumed within 4 h. Permeabilized strain YM64 was unable to overcome the inhibition; yet, both strains remained susceptible to chloramphenicol for as long as 6 h, thereby suggesting that the outer membrane remained permeable to nonpolar compounds. These data support the notion that the transitory nature of compound 48/80 sensitization to triclosan in P. aeruginosa does not involve obviation of the hydrophobic diffusion pathway through the outer membrane. The inability of strain YM64 to overcome the synergistic effect of compound 48/80 and triclosan strongly suggests that triclosan-recognizing efflux pumps are involved in maintaining viability in wild-type cells whose outer membranes are otherwise compromised.

Effect of outer membrane permeabilisation on intrinsic resistance to low triclosan levels in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The present study was undertaken to investigate the possibility that outer cell envelope impermeability might be involved in the intrinsic resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to low levels of the hydrophobic biocide triclosan. Macrobroth dilution and batch cultural turbidimetric assays were employed to assess the ability of compounds that render the Gram-negative outer membrane permeable to non-polar molecules to sensitise cell envelope variants to triclosan. Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains possessing highly refractory (PAO1) and atypically permeable (Z61) outer cell envelopes as well as a PAO1 derivative lacking four multidrug efflux pumps (YM64) were examined. Whilst the triclosan minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) differed dramatically for both PAO1 and Z61, significant decreases were seen for both strains in the presence of the outer membrane permeabiliser polymyxin B-nonapeptide. Strain YM64 was as resistant to triclosan as strain PAO1. Turbidimetric assessments of batch cultural growth kinetics revealed that the three chemically unrelated outer membrane permeabilisers polymyxin B-nonapeptide, compound 48/80 and ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) sensitised all strains to a sub-MIC concentration of triclosan (2.0 microg/mL). These data support the notion that the outer membrane exclusionary properties of P. aeruginosa for non-polar molecules confer intrinsic resistance to low concentrations of triclosan such as might be expected to occur in environmental residues. Moreover, a role for outer cell envelope impermeability is suggested for resistance to high triclosan concentrations in vitro.

Localization of alanyl aminopeptidase and leucyl aminopeptidase in cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by application of different methods for periplasm release

Various methods for the isolation of periplasm were examined and compared with regard to the complete release of known periplasmic marker enzymes and the contamination of the periplasm by cytosol for Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 as a significant Gram-negative test strain. The aim of the investigations was to clarify the exact localization of alanyl aminopeptidase (AAP) and leucyl aminopeptidase (LAP) of this microorganism and to evaluate these methods. The osmotic shock of NOSSAL and HEPPEL (1996) was the most effective method with the lowest contamination by the cytosolic marker enzyme malic enzyme, but some proteins, which are located near the inner side of the cytoplasmic membrane, can be released additionally into the periplasm. All other procedures like chloroform or polymyxin treatment, the magnesium chloride washing of intact bacteria and spheroblasting by lysozyme in the presence of EDTA or magnesium chloride resulted only in a partial, sometimes only very low release of periplasm. The periplasmic enzymes are bound either more by hydrophobic or more by ionic interactions to the cell envelope and show a different behaviour with the different releasing agents. These methods are useful for a further differentiation between really periplasmic protein, and those proteins, which were false positive found in periplasm as a result of the osmotic shock. Our results show that AAP from Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a periplasmic enzyme with hydrophobic interactions to the cytoplasmic membrane, corresponding to the early results of LAZDUNSKI and MURGIER for Escherichia coli (LAZDUNSKI et al. 1975a and b, MURGIER et al. 1977), and LAP is cytosolic, but located near the cytoplasmic membrane. The AAP is not a real amphipatic membrane protein, as could be demonstrated by phase separation experiments with Triton X-114.