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Integron activity accelerates the evolution of antibiotic resistance

eLife publish this investigation article

February 26th, 2021

Mobile integrons are widespread genetic platforms that allow bacteria to modulate the expression of antibiotic resistance cassettes by shuffling their position from a common promoter. Antibiotic stress induces the expression of an integrase that excises and integrates cassettes, and this unique recombination and expression system is thought to allow bacteria to ‘evolve on demand’ in response to antibiotic pressure. To test this hypothesis, we inserted a custom three-cassette integron into Pseudomonas aeruginosa and used experimental evolution to measure the impact of integrase activity on adaptation to gentamicin. Crucially, integrase activity accelerated evolution by increasing the expression of a gentamicin resistance cassette through duplications and by eliminating redundant cassettes. Importantly, we found no evidence of deleterious off-target effects of integrase activity. In summary, integrons accelerate resistance evolution by rapidly generating combinatorial variation in cassette composition while maintaining genomic integrity




Souque C., Escudero JA. and MacLean RC.




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Integron activity accelerates the evolution of antibiotic resistance

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Integron activity accelerates the evolution of antibiotic resistance



Participants:

University of OxfordDepartment of Zoology. University of Oxford.

Universidad ComplutenseServicio de Zoonosis de Transmisión Alimentaria y Resistencia a Antimicrobianos (ZTA). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM).

Universidad ComplutenseDepartamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM).







eLife
FACTOR YEAR Q
8.713 2021

PMID: 33634790

ISSN: 2050-084X



TITLE: Integron activity accelerates the evolution of antibiotic resistance


JOURNAL: eLife


NUMERACIÓN: 10:e62474


AÑO: 2021


PUBLISHER: ELIFE SCIENCES PUBLICATIONS LTD


AUTHORS: Souque C., Escudero JA. and MacLean RC.


José Antonio Escudero García-Calderón

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.62474


CITE THIS PUBLICATION:

Souque C., Escudero JA. and MacLean RC. Integron activity accelerates the evolution of antibiotic resistance. eLife. 10:e62474. 2021. (A). ISSN: 2050-084X. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.62474


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