Physiological cost of antibiotic resistance: Insights from a ribosome variant in bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Antibiotic-resistant ribosome variants arise spontaneously in bacterial populations; however, their impact on the overall bacterial physiology remains unclear. We studied the naturally arising antibiotic-resistant L22* ribosome variant of Bacillus subtilis and identified a Mg²⁺-dependent physiological cost. Coculture competition experiments show that Mg²⁺ limitation hinders the growth of the L22* variant more than the wild type (WT), even under antibiotic pressure. This growth disadvantage of L22* cells is not due to lower ribosome abundance but rather due to reduced intracellular Mg²⁺ levels. Coarse-grained elastic-network modeling of ribosome conformational dynamics suggests that L22* ribosomes associate more tightly with Mg²⁺ when compa

SUBMITTER: Moon EC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11567004 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature