Antibiotics Used in Empiric Treatment of Ocular Infections Trigger the Bacterial Rcs Stress Response System Independent of Antibiotic Susceptibility.

ABSTRACT: The Rcs phosphorelay is a bacterial stress response system that responds to envelope stresses and in turn controls several virulence-associated pathways, including capsule, flagella, and toxin biosynthesis, of numerous bacterial species. The Rcs system also affects antibiotic tolerance, biofilm formation, and horizontal gene transfer. The Rcs system of the ocular bacterial pathogen Serratia marcescens was recently demonstrated to influence ocular pathogenesis in a rabbit model of keratitis, with Rcs-defective mutants causing greater pathology and Rcs-activated strains demonstrating reduced inflammation. The Rcs system is activated by a variety of insults, including β-lactam antibiotics and polymyxin B. In this study, we developed three luminescence-based transcriptional reporters fo

SUBMITTER: Harshaw NS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8470065 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature