Antibiotic-resistant bacteria multiply faster
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The consistent introduction of antibiotic resistance into the bacterial genome stimulates the rate of reproduction of the bacterium.
Acquisition of resistance is reduced to the appearance of a necessary mutation in a bacterial chromosome or in general a whole gene, which can be obtained, for example, from another bacterial cell. Extrachromosomal hereditary elements (plasmids) are the usual "currency" in bacteria: these small ring DNA molecules, which carry only a few genes, easily penetrate into the bacterial cell.
But major interventions in the genome do not pass without a trace. The usual price that bacteria pay at the same time is a decrease in the division rate: the colony begins to grow more slowly, even if the newly acquired gene rescues it from the antibiotic. Invasion of the genome affects a variety of aspects of life, affects the interaction, which affects the rate of reproduction.
But, as it turned out, everything can be the other way around. In an article published in the online journal PLoS Genetics, microbiologists from the Gulbenkian Institute (Portugal) report that mutations leading to resistance against antibiotics can not slow down, but rather spur the division of bacteria.
The experiments were performed on a common E. Coli Escherichia coli. If the bacterium in which the plasmid with the resistance gene was already located received a "stable" mutation in the chromosome, the propagation rate of such a strain increased by 10%. If the events were reversed, that is, first a mutation was introduced into the chromosome, and then another gene was added with the help of a plasmid, then the reproduction rate increased threefold.
Why does the double genome shake not only not reduce the rate of division of E. Coli, but also speeds up its multiplication, it remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the data obtained will make it possible to more correctly assess the threat posed by the bacteria '"habituation" to antibiotics, and to develop more competent ways of combating infectious diseases.
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