Hfq mutation confers increased cephalosporin resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae

Authors

  • Xinran Li 1. College of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun; 2. Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Liaoning Province, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agriculture University, Shenyang
  • Mingjuan Yang Department of Infectious Disease Control, Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing
  • Yuehua Ke Department of Infectious Disease Control, Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing
  • Mingyuan Liu Key Laboratory for Zoonosis Research, Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis, Jilin University, Changchun
  • Yufei Wang Department of laboratory medicine, the General Hospital of Chinese people’s Armed Police Forces, Beijing
  • Shiwei Liu Wangjing Hospital, Academy of Chinese Traditional Medicine, Beijing
  • Bo Liu 1. Key Laboratory for Zoonosis Research, Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis, Jilin University, Changchun; 2. Key Laboratory for Zoonosis Research, Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis, Jilin University, Changchun
  • Zeliang Chen 1. Department of Infectious Disease Control, Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Changchun; 2. Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Liaoning Province, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agriculture University, Changchun

Keywords:

Cephalosporins, hfq, Klebsiella pneumoniae, penicillin-binding proteins, resistance

Abstract

Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), is an opportunistic pathogen raising significant public health concerns owing to its multi-drug resistance. Hfq, one of the main RNA-binding proteins, is a key post-transcriptional regulator. This protein is closely related to virulence and resistance in various pathogenic bacteria. Although the role of hfq in K. pneumoniae virulence has been explored, its influence on resistance remains largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of hfq in the resistance of K. pneumoniae to cephalosporins. An hfq mutant was constructed, and its resistance to cephalosporins was investigated. The hfq mutant exhibited over 16-fold higher cephalosporin resistance than that exhibited by the wild type. Time-kill curve analysis showed that the hfq mutant could survive under higher concentrations of cephalosporins than the wild-type strain could. Quantitative RT-PCR showed that expression levels for 8 out of the 9 penicillin-binding proteins, which are the targets of cephalosporins, were downregulated in the hfq mutant. Taken together, contrary to its role in many other bacteria, hfq is involved in a negative regulation of K. pneumoniae resistance to cephalosporins by downregulating the expression of penicillin-binding proteins.

DOI: 10.2298/ABS160126078L

Received: January 26, 2016; Revised: March 20, 2016; Accepted: April 30, 2016; Published online: September 14, 2016

How to cite this article: Li X, Yang M, Ke Y, Liu M, Wang Y, Liu S, Liu B, Chen Z. Hfq mutation confers increased cephalosporin resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Arch Biol Sci. 2017;69(1):61-9.

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Published

2017-03-07

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1.
Li X, Yang M, Ke Y, Liu M, Wang Y, Liu S, Liu B, Chen Z. Hfq mutation confers increased cephalosporin resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Arch Biol Sci [Internet]. 2017Mar.7 [cited 2024Dec.22];69(1):61-9. Available from: https://serbiosoc.org.rs/arch/index.php/abs/article/view/78

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Vol. 69 No. 1 (2017)

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