Off-Target Integron Activity Leads to Rapid Plasmid Compensatory Evolution in Response to Antibiotic Selection Pressure.

ABSTRACT: Integrons are mobile genetic elements that have played an important role in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Under stress, the integron can generate combinatorial variation in resistance cassette expression by cassette reshuffling, accelerating the evolution of resistance. However, the flexibility of the integron integrase site recognition motif hints at potential off-target effects of the integrase on the rest of the genome that may have important evolutionary consequences. Here, we test this hypothesis by selecting for increased-piperacillin-resistance populations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with a mobile integron containing a difficult-to-mobilize β-lactamase cassette to minimize the potential for adaptive cassette reshuffling. We found that integron activity can decrease the o

SUBMITTER: Souque C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10127599 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature