Polymyxin resistance caused by mgrB inactivation is not associated with significant biological cost in Klebsiella pneumoniae

Antonio Cannatelli; Alfonso Santos-Lopez; Tommaso Giani; Bruno Gonzalez-Zorn; Gian Maria Rossolini

doi:10.1128/AAC.04998-14

Polymyxin resistance caused by mgrB inactivation is not associated with significant biological cost in Klebsiella pneumoniae

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2015 May;59(5):2898-900. doi: 10.1128/AAC.04998-14. Epub 2015 Feb 17.

Authors

Antonio Cannatelli¹, Alfonso Santos-Lopez², Tommaso Giani¹, Bruno Gonzalez-Zorn², Gian Maria Rossolini³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
² Department of Animal Health and VISAVET, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
³ Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy Clinical Microbiology and Virology Unit, Florence Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy [email protected].

Abstract

The inactivation of the mgrB gene, which encodes a negative-feedback regulator of the PhoPQ signaling system, was recently shown to be a common mutational mechanism responsible for acquired polymyxin resistance among carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strains from clinical sources. In this work, we show that mgrB mutants can easily be selected in vitro from different K. pneumoniae lineages, and mgrB inactivation is not associated with a significant biological cost.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
Klebsiella Infections / microbiology
Klebsiella pneumoniae / drug effects*
Klebsiella pneumoniae / genetics*
Microbial Sensitivity Tests
Polymyxins / pharmacology*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Polymyxins