Colistin-degrading proteases confer collective resistance to microbial communities during polymicrobial infections.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The increasing prevalence of resistance against the last-resort antibiotic colistin is a significant threat to global public health. Here, we discovered a novel colistin resistance mechanism via enzymatic inactivation of the drug and proposed its clinical importance in microbial communities during polymicrobial infections.

Results

A bacterial strain of the Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen Stenotrophomonas maltophilia capable of degrading colistin and exhibiting a high-level colistin resistance was isolated from the soil environment. A colistin-degrading protease (Cdp) was identified in this strain, and its contribution to colistin resistance was demonstrated by growth inhibition experiments using knock-out (Δcdp) and complemented (Δcdp::cdp) mutants. Coculture

SUBMITTER: Lee DH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9389796 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature