The present review discusses the problem of controlling mycoplasmas (class
Mollicutes), the smallest of self-replicating prokaryotes, parasites of higher
eukaryotes, and main contaminants of cell cultures and vaccines. Possible
mechanisms for the rapid development of resistance to antimicrobial drugs in
mycoplasmas have been analyzed. Omics technologies provide new opportunities
for investigating the molecular basis of bacterial adaptation to stress factors
and identifying resistomes, the total of all genes and their products
contributing to antibiotic resistance in microbes. The data obtained using an
integrated approach with post-genomics methods show that antibiotic resistance
may be caused by more complex processes than has been believed heretofore. The
development of antibiotic resistance in mycoplasmas is associated with
essential changes in the genome, proteome, and secretome profiles, which
involve many genes and proteins related to fundamental cellular processes and
virulence.
This study demonstrated that extracellular membrane vesicles are involved with the development of resistance to fluoroquinolones by mycoplasmas (class Mollicutes). This study assessed the differences in susceptibility to ciprofloxacin among strains of Acholeplasma laidlawii PG8. The mechanisms of mycoplasma resistance to antibiotics may be associated with a mutation in a gene related to the target of quinolones, which could modulate the vesiculation level. A. laidlawii extracellular vesicles mediated the export of the nucleotide sequences of the antibiotic target gene as well as the traffic of ciprofloxacin. These results may facilitate the development of effective approaches to control mycoplasma infections, as well as the contamination of cell cultures and vaccine preparations.
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