Consequences of benzalkonium chloride tolerance for selection dynamics and de novo resistance evolution driven by antibiotics.

ABSTRACT: Biocides are used in large amounts in industrial, medical, and domestic settings. Benzalkonium chloride (BAC) is a commonly used biocide, for which previous research revealed that Escherichia coli can rapidly adapt to tolerate BAC-disinfection, with consequences for antibiotic susceptibility. However, the consequences of BAC tolerance for selection dynamics and resistance evolution to antibiotics remain unknown. Here, we investigated the effect of BAC tolerance in E. coli on its response upon challenge with different antibiotics. Competition assays showed that subinhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin-but not ampicillin, colistin and gentamicin-select for the BAC-tolerant strain over the BAC-sensitive ancestor at a minimal selective concentration of 0.0013-0.0022 µg∙mL^-

SUBMITTER: Kanaris O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12783665 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature