The role of lipopolysaccharide structure in the recipient cell during plasmid-mediated bacterial conjugation

Non-antibiotic compounds associated with humans and the environment can promote horizontal transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes

Horizontal gene transfer plays a key role in the global dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR genes are often carried on self-transmissible plasmids, which are shared amongst bacteria primarily by conjugation. Antibiotic use has been a well-established driver of the emergence and spread of AMR. However, the impact of commonly used non-antibiotic compounds and environmental pollutants on AMR spread has been largely overlooked. Recent studies found common prescription and over-the-counter drugs, artificial sweeteners, food preservatives, and environmental pollutants, can increase the conjugative transfer of AMR plasmids. The potential mechanisms by which these compounds promote plasmid transmission include increased membrane permeability, upregulation of plasmid transfer genes, formation of reactive oxygen species, and SOS response gene induction. Many questions remain around the impact of most non-antibiotic compounds on AMR plasmid conjugation in clinical isolates and the long-term impact on AMR dissemination. By elucidating the role of routinely used pharmaceuticals, food additives, and pollutants in the dissemination of AMR, action can be taken to mitigate their impact by closely monitoring use and disposal. This review will discuss recent progress on understanding the influence of non-antibiotic compounds on plasmid transmission, the mechanisms by which they promote transfer, and the level of risk they pose.

mcr-1-Mediated In Vitro Inhibition of Plasmid Transfer Is Reversed by the Intestinal Environment

Colistin is regarded as an antibiotic of last resort against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, including Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli. Colistin resistance is acquired by microorganisms via chromosome-mediated mutations or plasmid-mediated mobile colistin resistance (mcr) gene, in which the transfer of mcr is the predominant factor underlying the spread of colistin resistance. However, the factors that are responsible for the spread of the mcr gene are still unclear. In this study, we observed that mcr-1 inhibited the transfer of the pHNSHP45 backbone in liquid mating. Similar inhibitory effect of mcr-1.6 and chromosomal mutant ΔmgrB suggested that colistin resistance, acquired from either plasmid or chromosomal mutation, hindered the transfer of colistin resistance-related plasmid in vitro. Dual plasmid system further proved that co-existing plasmid transfer was reduced too. However, this inhibitory effect was reversed in vivo. Some factors in the gut, including bile salt and anaerobic conditions, could increase the transfer frequency of the mcr-1-containing plasmid. Our results demonstrated the potential risk for the spread of colistin resistance in the intestine, provide a scientific basis against the transmission of colistin resistance threat.

Natural and Artificial Strategies To Control the Conjugative Transmission of Plasmids

Conjugative plasmids are the main carriers of transmissible antibiotic resistance (AbR) genes. For that reason, strategies to control plasmid transmission have been proposed as potential solutions to prevent AbR dissemination. Natural mechanisms that bacteria employ as defense barriers against invading genomes, such as restriction-modification or CRISPR-Cas systems, could be exploited to control conjugation. Besides, conjugative plasmids themselves display mechanisms to minimize their associated burden or to compete with related or unrelated plasmids. Thus, FinOP systems, composed of FinO repressor protein and FinP antisense RNA, aid plasmids to regulate their own transfer; exclusion systems avoid conjugative transfer of related plasmids to the same recipient bacteria; and fertility inhibition systems block transmission of unrelated plasmids from the same donor cell. Artificial strategies have also been designed to control bacterial conjugation. For instance, intrabodies against R388 relaxase expressed in recipient cells inhibit plasmid R388 conjugative transfer; pIII protein of bacteriophage M13 inhibits plasmid F transmission by obstructing conjugative pili; and unsaturated fatty acids prevent transfer of clinically relevant plasmids in different hosts, promoting plasmid extinction in bacterial populations. Overall, a number of exogenous and endogenous factors have an effect on the sophisticated process of bacterial conjugation. This review puts them together in an effort to offer a wide picture and inform research to control plasmid transmission, focusing on Gram-negative bacteria.

IncP plasmids are unusually effective in mediating conjugation of Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae: involvement of the tra2 mating system

Mobilizable shuttle plasmids containing the origin-of-transfer (oriT) region of plasmids F (IncFI), ColIb-P9 (IncI1), and RP4/RP1 (IncPalpha) were constructed to test the ability of the cognate conjugation system to mediate gene transfer from Escherichia coli to Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Only the Palpha system caused detectable mobilization to yeast, giving peak values of 5 x 10(-5) transconjugants per recipient cell in 30 min. Transfer of the shuttle plasmid required carriage of oriT in cis and the provision in trans of the Palpha Tra1 core and Tra2 core regions. Genes outside the Tra1 core did not increase the mobilization efficiency. All 10 Tra2 core genes (trbB, -C, -D, -E, -F, -G, -H, -I, -J, and -L) required for plasmid transfer to E. coli K-12 were needed for transfer to yeast. To assess whether the mating-pair formation (Mpf) system or DNA-processing apparatus of the Palpha conjugation system is critical in transkingdom transfer, an assay using an IncQ-based shuttle plasmid specifying its own DNA-processing system was devised. RP1 but not ColIb mobilized the construct to yeast, indicating that the Mpf complex determined by the Tra2 core genes plus traF is primarily responsible for the remarkable fertility of the Palpha system in mediating gene transfer from bacteria to eukaryotes.

Intracellular multiplication and human macrophage killing by Legionella pneumophila are inhibited by conjugal components of IncQ plasmid RSF1010

Previously we have reported that Legionella pneumophila can mediate plasmid DNA transfer at a frequency of about 10(-3) transconjugants per donor and that this process is dependent on several icm genes. Here we characterize the icm-dependent conjugal ability of L. pneumophila and study its relationship to intracellular multiplication and host cell killing. We found that three icm genes and the RSF1010 mobA gene are completely required and that three icm genes and the RSF1010 mobC gene are partially required for conjugation. Conjugation occurred during lag phase and stopped when the cell number increased. Inhibition of transcription or translation in the donor had only a minor effect on conjugation frequency. These results suggest that stationary-phase bacteria contain a functional icm complex that can mediate conjugal DNA transfer and probably can initiate infection of human macrophages as well. We also found that a functional RSF1010 mobilization system inhibits intracellular multiplication and killing of human macrophages by L. pneumophila. The strongest inhibition was observed in icm insertion mutants complemented with wild-type icm genes on an RSF1010-derived plasmid. These results suggest that the conjugation substrate probably competes with the natural substrate of the L. pneumophila icm system for transfer outside the bacterial cell. We propose that the function of the L. pneumophila icm system is to transfer effector molecules to the host cell. These effector molecules may interact with components of the host cell that are involved in phagosome formation and fate.

Correlation between the presence of sequences homologous to the vir region of Salmonella dublin plasmid pSDL2 and the virulence of twenty-two Salmonella serotypes in mice

Large plasmids encoding important virulence properties have been found in several Salmonella serotypes. We have studied the relationship between the presence of a highly conserved 4-kilobase (kb) EcoRI fragment from the plasmid virulence region and pathogenicity for mice of 53 isolates representing 22 serotypes of Salmonella. Only strains possessing the homologous 4-kb region were virulent for mice. In addition, we transferred the virulence plasmid from S. dublin into nine different serotypes, including S. typhi and S. paratyphi A, that lack a native virulence plasmid. Only S. heidelberg and S. newport were rendered mouse virulent by the introduction of the S. dublin plasmid. This study demonstrates that plasmid-mediated virulence sequences are required for Salmonella virulence in mice, but many strains, including the agents of human typhoid fever, also lack chromosomal genes necessary to produce lethal systemic disease in mice. Since all the major Salmonella strains that are host-adapted to animals carry virulence plasmids, it appears that these plasmids are important in mediating systemic infection in animals and may contribute to septicemic, nontyphoid salmonellosis in humans.

Association between colistin resistance and broad-spectrum recipient deficiency in Klebsiella pneumoniae

A colistin-resistant mutant of Klebsiella pneumoniae served well as a donor but not as a recipient in conjugation. A nearly 1,000-fold difference between colistin-susceptible and colistin-resistant forms of this strain was observed by using donors of plasmids of four incompatibility groups. Recipient efficiency was not restored by filter matings.

Salmonella typhimurium strains carrying haemolysin plasmids and cloned haemolysin genes from Escherichia coli

Like all other Salmonella typhimurium strains examined, the smooth variants SF1397 (LT2) and 1366 and also their semi-rough and rough derivatives are non-haemolytic. Nevertheless, two haemolysin (Hly) plasmids of E. coli belonging to the inc groups incFIII,IV (pSU316) and incI2 (pHly152) were able to be introduced into these strains by conjugation and stably maintained. A considerable percentage of the Hly+ transconjugants obtained had lost parts of their O-side chains, a result of selection for the better recipient capability of "semi-rough" variants rather than the direct influence of the Hly+ plasmids themselves. In contrast to the incFIII,IV plasmid pSU316, which exhibited higher conjugation rates with rough recipients, the incI2 plasmid pHly152 was accepted best by smooth strains. Transformation with cloned E. coli haemolysin (hly) determinant was inefficient (less than 10(-6)) for smooth strains, but 10(2) - 10(3) times higher for rough recipients, and was increased by the use of Salmonella-modified DNA. The transformants and transconjugants were relatively stable and showed the same haemolytic activity as the E. coli donor strains. The virulence of the Hly+ smooth, semi-rough and rough S. typhimurium strains was tested in two mouse models, and neither the mortality rate nor the ability to multiply within the mouse spleen was influenced by the hly determinants.

Analyses of gonococcal lipopolysaccharide in whole-cell lysates by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis: stable association of lipopolysaccharide with the major outer membrane protein (protein I) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae whole-cell lysates and proteinase K-digested lysates was examined and compared with purified homologous LPS by a method which preferentially stains LPS in polyacrylamide gels. The silver-stained profile of gonococcal LPS in the proteinase K-digested lysate was similar to that of homologous purified LPS; however, the LPS profile in whole-cell lysates was much smaller than that of digested lysates or purified LPS. Conditions of solubilization did not affect these differences. Since it is known that LPS migrates in a unique fashion in second-dimension electrophoresis, the location of LPS in the whole-cell lysates was probed by second-dimension sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with a variety of stains and radiolabels. Results from these experiments indicated a stable and reproducible association of LPS with proteins ranging between 23,000 to 36,000 in Mr, in particular major outer membrane protein I. In addition to staining with the silver method, which preferentially stains LPS, the putative LPS was resistant to digestion by proteinase K, did not stain with Coomassie brilliant blue, and was not labeled extrinsically with 125I (Iodogen method) or intrinsically with [35S]methionine. Analysis of two-dimensional gels by immunoblotting with rabbit antisera prepared from protein I bands removed from a polyacrylamide gel revealed the presence of antigens in the same area of the gel (below proteins that were 23,000 to 36,000 in Mr). Antibodies to constituents which migrated below the diagonal were essentially removed by adsorption of antisera with purified LPS, as were antibodies to homologous LPS and LPS in proteinase K-digested whole-cell lysates. Immunoblotting with a monoclonal antibody specific for LPS demonstrated reactivity of the antibody with LPS and with the protein I band. On the basis of these data, we conclude that protein I and perhaps other proteins in the whole-cell lysate are stably associated with LPS; this complex is resistant to dissociation in sodium dodecyl sulfate at high temperature (approximately 100 degrees C) but does, for unknown reasons, dissociate with electrophoresis in the second dimension. The association of LPS with protein antigens in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels adds another dimension of complexity to analysis of these antigens by immunoelectroblotting. Furthermore, the tight association of LPS with the major outer membrane protein I may alter the nature of the immune response generated by "purified" protein I vaccine antigens. The possible role of protein-LPS complexes in the pathogenesis of gonorrhea is discussed.