Differential Expression of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis General Porin Genes during Short- and Long-Term Antibiotic Stresses

Abstract

Here, we investigated general porin regulation in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis 488, the causative agent of Far Eastern scarlet-like fever, in response to sublethal concentrations of antibiotics. We chose four antibiotics of different classes and measured gene expression using qRT-PCR and GFP reporter systems. Our data showed temporal regulation of the general porin genes ompF and ompC caused by antibiotic stress. The porin transcription initially decreased, providing early defensive response of the bacterium, while it returned to that of the untreated cells on prolonged antibiotic exposure. Unlike the major porin genes, the transcription of the alternative porin genes ompX and lamB was increased. Moreover, a short-term ompR- and marA-mediated porin regulation was observed. The main finding was a phenotypic heterogeneity of Y. pseudotuberculosis population manifested in variable porin gene expression under carbenicillin exposure. This may offer adaptive fitness advantages for a particular bacterial subpopulation.

Outer Membrane Porins Contribute to Antimicrobial Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacteria

“…Depending on the antibiotics, they either suppress the transcription level of one or both of their genes, providing the cells with the initial line of resistance. The expression of these two proteins returned to the untreated cells after prolonged antibiotic exposure, despite an increase in the transcription of the alternative porin gene ompX [ 121 ]. Ceftazidime works well against E. coli that produces OmpF, but less well against cells that express OmpC [ 122 ].…”

Editorial to the Special Issue: “Dedicated to the 55th Anniversary of G.B. Elyakov Pacific Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”

“…Noskova et al [ 15 ] proposed to use the gene of alkaline phosphatase as an additional marker in the description of strains of the genus Cobetia due to difficulty in their identification, both in terms of phenotypic parameters and because of the high homology of their 16S rRNA. Bystritskaya et al [ 16 ] investigated general porin regulation in the Far-Eastern strain of Y. pseudotuberculosis in response to sublethal concentrations of antibiotics. As a result, the phenotypic heterogeneity of the Y. pseudotuberculosis population was found, manifested in the variable expression of the porin gene under the influence of carbenicillin.…”