A New Way of Sensing: Need-Based Activation of Antibiotic Resistance by a Flux-Sensing Mechanism.

ABSTRACT:

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Sensing of and responding to environmental changes are of vital importance for microbial cells. Consequently, bacteria have evolved a plethora of signaling systems that usually sense biochemical cues either via direct ligand binding, thereby acting as "concentration sensors," or by responding to downstream effects on bacterial physiology, such as structural damage to the cell. Here, we describe a novel, alternative signaling mechanism that effectively implements a "flux sensor" to regulate antibiotic resistance. It relies on a sensory complex consisting of a histidine kinase and an ABC transporter, in which the transporter fulfills the dual role of both the sensor of the antibiotic and the mediator of resistance against it. Combining systems biological modeling with in v

SUBMITTER: Fritz G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4513084 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature