糖心Vlog破解版

Article

Plasticity in a bacterial global regulatory switch that drives a shift in antibiotic resistance and virulence

Details

Citation

Correia A, Manners EJ, Evans BA, Malone JG, O’Grady J, Mavrogiorgou E, Arminu S, Usai M, Naik D, McMillan S, Kay GL, Hill C, Sudhakar P, Meader E & Desbois AP (2026) Plasticity in a bacterial global regulatory switch that drives a shift in antibiotic resistance and virulence. FEMS Microbes, 7, Art. No.: xtag044. https://doi.org/10.1093/femsmc/xtag044

Abstract
Antibiotic resistance and expression of virulence factors impact the outcome of infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Pathogenesis is often modelled using the PAO1 reference strain but laboratory lineages vary in the sequence and activity of MexT, a global regulator impacting virulence, biofilm formation, and ciprofloxacin resistance. We defined the impact of active versus inactive MexT in PAO1 and observed transcriptomic changes affecting the expression of ~900 genes. Phenotyping revealed altered metabolism, antibiotic resistance, and virulence, resulting in striking variation across a ‘single’ model organism. We propose that antibiotic resistance promotes plasticity in mexT accounting for variation across lineages. We introduced antibiotic resistance into clinical P. aeruginosa isolates and observed mutations in mexT when selective pressure was removed, supporting the proposed evolutionary pathway. Overall, we have demonstrated the transcriptomic basis of MexT as a phenotypic switch in PAO1 and implicated antibiotic resistance as a cause of changes in mexT. Furthermore, MexS/MexT-regulated efflux is implicated in the antibiotic stress response and virulence, helping identify the mechanisms for rapid phenotypic switching through mexT and confirming that PAO1 is unlike most isolates. Improved understanding of the regulatory changes linked to antibiotic resistance is particularly relevant to P. aeruginosa where cycles of antibiotic treatment are common.

Keywords
platicity; antibiotic resistance; virulence; regulation; evolution; pathogen

Notes
Additional authors: Katarzyna Schmidt , Tamas Korcsmaros, Lisa Crossman , John Wain , Gemma C Langridge

Journal
FEMS Microbes: Volume 7

StatusPublished
Publication date31/01/2026
Publication date online31/08/2026
Date accepted by journal27/07/2026
URL
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP)
ISSN0378-1097
eISSN1574-6968

People (2)

Dr Andrew Desbois

Dr Andrew Desbois

Senior Lecturer, Aquaculture

Dr Stuart McMillan

Dr Stuart McMillan

Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Aquaculture

Files (1)