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Zhang Y, Li W, Wu Y, Tian X, Li G, Zhou Y, Sun J, Liao X, Liu Y, Wang Y, Yu Y. Chitosan oligosaccharide accelerates the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes through promoting conjugative plasmid transfer. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2024; 469:133922. [PMID: 38442604 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2023] [Revised: 02/22/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
The dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), especially via plasmid-mediated horizontal gene transfer, poses a pervasive threat to global health. Chitosan-oligosaccharide (COS) is extensively utilized in medicine, plant and animal husbandry. However, their impact on microflora implies the potential to exert selective pressure on plasmid transfer. To explore the role of COS in facilitating the dissemination of ARGs via plasmid conjugation, we established in vitro mating models. The addition of COS to conjugation mixtures significantly enhanced the transfer of RP4 plasmid and mcr-1 positive IncX4 plasmid in both intra- and inter-specific. Phenotypic and transcriptome analysis revealed that COS enhanced intercellular contact by neutralizing cell surface charge and increasing cell surface hydrophobicity. Additionally, COS increased membrane permeability by inhibiting the Tol-Pal system, thereby facilitating plasmid conjugative transfer. Furthermore, COS served as the carbon source and was metabolized by E. coli, providing energy for plasmid conjugation through regulating the expression of ATPase and global repressor factor-related genes in RP4 plasmid. Overall, these findings improve our awareness of the potential risks associated with the presence of COS and the spread of bacterial antibiotic resistance, emphasizing the need to establish guidelines for the prudent use of COS and its discharge into the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wenjie Li
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yashuang Wu
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaomin Tian
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Gong Li
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yufeng Zhou
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Veterinary Pharmaceutics Development and Safety Evaluation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jian Sun
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Veterinary Pharmaceutics Development and Safety Evaluation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoping Liao
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Veterinary Pharmaceutics Development and Safety Evaluation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yahong Liu
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Veterinary Pharmaceutics Development and Safety Evaluation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for the Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Yang Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health and Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Yang Yu
- State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Veterinary Pharmaceutics Development and Safety Evaluation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
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Alav I, Pordelkhaki P, de Resende PE, Partington H, Gibbons S, Lord RM, Buckner MMC. Cobalt complexes modulate plasmid conjugation in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Sci Rep 2024; 14:8103. [PMID: 38582880 PMCID: PMC10998897 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58895-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance genes (ARG), such as extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase genes, are commonly carried on plasmids. Plasmids can transmit between bacteria, disseminate globally, and cause clinically important resistance. Therefore, targeting plasmids could reduce ARG prevalence, and restore the efficacy of existing antibiotics. Cobalt complexes possess diverse biological activities, including antimicrobial and anticancer properties. However, their effect on plasmid conjugation has not been explored yet. Here, we assessed the effect of four previously characterised bis(N-picolinamido)cobalt(II) complexes lacking antibacterial activity on plasmid conjugation in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of these cobalt complexes confirmed the lack of antibacterial activity in E. coli and K. pneumoniae. Liquid broth and solid agar conjugation assays were used to screen the activity of the complexes on four archetypical plasmids in E. coli J53. The cobalt complexes significantly reduced the conjugation of RP4, R6K, and R388 plasmids, but not pKM101, on solid agar in E. coli J53. Owing to their promising activity, the impact of cobalt complexes was tested on the conjugation of fluorescently tagged extended-spectrum β-lactamase encoding pCTgfp plasmid in E. coli and carbapenemase encoding pKpQILgfp plasmid in K. pneumoniae, using flow cytometry. The complexes significantly reduced the conjugation of pKpQILgfp in K. pneumoniae but had no impact on pCTgfp conjugation in E. coli. The cobalt complexes did not have plasmid-curing activity, suggesting that they target conjugation rather than plasmid stability. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report reduced conjugation of clinically relevant plasmids with cobalt complexes. These cobalt complexes are not cytotoxic towards mammalian cells and are not antibacterial, therefore they could be optimised and employed as inhibitors of plasmid conjugation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilyas Alav
- Institute of Microbiology and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Parisa Pordelkhaki
- Institute of Microbiology and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Pedro Ernesto de Resende
- School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Hannah Partington
- Institute of Microbiology and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Simon Gibbons
- Natural & Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Birkat Al Mauz, P.O. Box 33, Nizwa, 616, Oman
| | - Rianne M Lord
- School of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Michelle M C Buckner
- Institute of Microbiology and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
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Rojas D, Marcoleta AE, Gálvez-Silva M, Varas MA, Díaz M, Hernández M, Vargas C, Nourdin-Galindo G, Koch E, Saldivia P, Vielma J, Gan YH, Chen Y, Guiliani N, Chávez FP. Inorganic Polyphosphate Affects Biofilm Assembly, Capsule Formation, and Virulence of Hypervirulent ST23 Klebsiella pneumoniae. ACS Infect Dis 2024; 10:606-623. [PMID: 38205780 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.3c00509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
The emergence of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP) strains poses a significant threat to public health due to high mortality rates and propensity to cause severe community-acquired infections in healthy individuals. The ability to form biofilms and produce a protective capsule contributes to its enhanced virulence and is a significant challenge to effective antibiotic treatment. Polyphosphate kinase 1 (PPK1) is an enzyme responsible for inorganic polyphosphate synthesis and plays a vital role in regulating various physiological processes in bacteria. In this study, we investigated the impact of polyP metabolism on the biofilm and capsule formation and virulence traits in hvKP using Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba as a model host. We found that the PPK1 null mutant was impaired in biofilm and capsule formation and showed attenuated virulence in D. discoideum compared to the wild-type strain. We performed a proteomic analysis to gain further insights into the underlying molecular mechanism. The results revealed that the PPK1 mutant had a differential expression of proteins involved in capsule synthesis (Wzi-Ugd), biofilm formation (MrkC-D-H), synthesis of the colibactin genotoxin precursor (ClbB), as well as proteins associated with the synthesis and modification of lipid A (ArnB-LpxC-PagP). These proteomic findings corroborate the phenotypic observations and indicate that the PPK1 mutation is associated with impaired biofilm and capsule formation and attenuated virulence in hvKP. Overall, our study highlights the importance of polyP synthesis in regulating extracellular biomolecules and virulence in K. pneumoniae and provides insights into potential therapeutic targets for treating K. pneumoniae infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego Rojas
- Laboratorio de Microbiología de Sistemas, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago CP 7800003, Chile
| | - Andrés E Marcoleta
- Grupo de Microbiología Integrativa, Laboratorio de Biología Estructural y Molecular, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago CP 7800003, Chile
| | - Matías Gálvez-Silva
- Laboratorio de Microbiología de Sistemas, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago CP 7800003, Chile
- Grupo de Microbiología Integrativa, Laboratorio de Biología Estructural y Molecular, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago CP 7800003, Chile
| | - Macarena A Varas
- Laboratorio de Microbiología de Sistemas, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago CP 7800003, Chile
- Grupo de Microbiología Integrativa, Laboratorio de Biología Estructural y Molecular, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago CP 7800003, Chile
| | - Mauricio Díaz
- Laboratorio de Comunicación Microbiana, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago CP 7800003, Chile
| | - Mauricio Hernández
- División Biotecnología, Instituto Melisa, San Pedro de la Paz CP 9660000, Chile
| | - Cristian Vargas
- División Biotecnología, Instituto Melisa, San Pedro de la Paz CP 9660000, Chile
| | | | - Elard Koch
- División Biotecnología, Instituto Melisa, San Pedro de la Paz CP 9660000, Chile
| | - Pablo Saldivia
- División Biotecnología, Instituto Melisa, San Pedro de la Paz CP 9660000, Chile
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción CP 4070389, Chile
| | - Jorge Vielma
- Laboratorio de Microbiología de Sistemas, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago CP 7800003, Chile
- Grupo de Microbiología Integrativa, Laboratorio de Biología Estructural y Molecular, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago CP 7800003, Chile
| | - Yunn-Hwen Gan
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore CP 119077, Singapore
| | - Yahua Chen
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore CP 119077, Singapore
| | - Nicolás Guiliani
- Laboratorio de Comunicación Microbiana, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago CP 7800003, Chile
| | - Francisco P Chávez
- Laboratorio de Microbiología de Sistemas, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago CP 7800003, Chile
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