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RpoE is a Putative Antibiotic Resistance Regulator of Salmonella enteric Serovar Typhi

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Abstract

Bacterial antimicrobial resistance has been associated with the up regulation of genes encoding efflux pumps and the down regulation of genes encoding outer membrane proteins (OMPs). Gene expression in bacteria is primarily initiated by sigma factors (σ factors) such as RpoE, which plays an important role in responding to many environmental stresses. Here, we report the first observation that RpoE serves as an antibiotic resistance regulator in Salmonella enteric serovar Typhi (S. Typhi). In this study, we found that the rpoE mutant (ΔrpoE) of S. Typhi GIFU10007 has elevated resistance to several antimicrobial agents, including β-lactams, quinolones, and aminoglycosides. Genomic DNA microarray analysis was used to investigate the differential gene expression profiles between a wild type and rpoE mutant in response to ampicillin. The results showed that a total of 57 genes displayed differential expression (two-fold increase or decrease) in ΔrpoE versus the wild-type strain. The expressions of two outer membrane protein genes, ompF and ompC, were significantly down-regulated in ΔrpoE (six and seven-fold lower in comparison to wild-type strain) and RamA, a member of the efflux pump AraC/XylS family, was up-regulated about four-fold in the ΔrpoE. Our results suggest RpoE is a potential antimicrobial regulator in S. Typhi, controlling both the down regulation of the OMP genes and up-regulating the efflux system.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81572032), Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine (JSKLM-2014-015) and the startup fund of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University (No. SDFEYGJ1301). This study was partially supported by a grant (to B.N.K.) from the National Institutes of Health (1R01AI090155).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

      Xiaofang Xie, Haifang Zhang, Yi Zheng, Aiqing Li, Min Wang, Huiqin Zhou, Xueming Zhu & Hong Du

    2. Public Health Research Institute Center, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, 07103, USA

      Zachary Schneider, Liang Chen & Barry N. Kreiswirth

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    1. Xiaofang Xie
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    Correspondence to Hong Du.

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    Xiaofang Xie and Haifang Zhang have contributed equally to this work.

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    Xie, X., Zhang, H., Zheng, Y. et al. RpoE is a Putative Antibiotic Resistance Regulator of Salmonella enteric Serovar Typhi. Curr Microbiol 72, 457–464 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-015-0983-7

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