Genetic architecture of intrinsic antibiotic susceptibility.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Antibiotic exposure rapidly selects for more resistant bacterial strains, and both a drug's chemical structure and a bacterium's cellular network affect the types of mutations acquired.

Methodology/principal findings

To better characterize the genetic determinants of antibiotic susceptibility, we exposed a transposon-mutagenized library of Escherichia coli to each of 17 antibiotics that encompass a wide range of drug classes and mechanisms of action. Propagating the library for multiple generations with drug concentrations that moderately inhibited the growth of the isogenic parental strain caused the abundance of strains with even minor fitness advantages or disadvantages to change measurably and reproducibly. Using a microarray-based genetic footprinting strateg

SUBMITTER: Girgis HS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2680486 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature