Small Things Matter: The 11.6-kDa TraB Protein is Crucial for Antibiotic Resistance Transfer Among Enterococci.

ABSTRACT: Conjugative transfer is the most important means for spreading antibiotic resistance genes. It is used by Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and archaea as well. Conjugative transfer is mediated by molecular membrane-spanning nanomachines, so called Type 4 Secretion Systems (T4SS). The T4SS of the broad-host-range inc18-plasmid pIP501 is organized in a single operon encoding 15 putative transfer proteins. pIP501 was originally isolated from a clinical Streptococcus agalactiae strain but is mainly found in Enterococci. In this study, we demonstrate that the small transmembrane protein TraB is essential for pIP501 transfer. Complementation of a markerless pIP501∆traB knockout by traB lacking its secretion signal sequence did not fully restore conjugative tr

SUBMITTER: Berger TMI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9083827 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature