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Journal of Bacteriology, December 2003, p. 6883-6892, Vol. 185, No. 23
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.23.6883-6892.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Quinolone Resistance Due to Reduced Target Enzyme Expression

Dilek Ince and David C. Hooper*

Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

Received 5 May 2003/ Accepted 29 August 2003

We report for the first time low-level quinolone resistance mediated by decreased expression of topoisomerase IV in Staphylococcus aureus. A single-step mutant of wild-type S. aureus strain ISP794, P18 selected by using twice the MIC of premafloxacin, had four- and four- to eightfold greater MICs of premafloxacin and ciprofloxacin, respectively, than the wild type. Sequencing of parEC and gyrBA with their promoter regions revealed a point mutation (G->A) 13 bp upstream of the start codon of parE. Genetic linkage studies showed that there was a high level of correlation between the mutation and the resistance phenotype, and allelic exchange confirmed the contribution of the mutation to resistance. Decreased expression of ParE and decreased steady-state levels of parEC transcripts in P18 and in resistant allelic exchange mutants were observed. The steady-state levels of gyrBA and topB transcripts were increased in P18 but not in two resistant allelic exchange mutants, and sequencing upstream of either gene did not reveal a difference between ISP794 and P18. The steady-state levels of topA transcripts were similar in the various strains. Growth competition experiments performed at 30, 37, and 41°C with a susceptible allelic exchange strain and a resistant allelic exchange strain suggested that loss of fitness was associated with reduced levels of ParE at 41°C. However, P18 had a growth advantage over ISP794 at all temperatures, suggesting that a compensatory mechanism was associated with the increased levels of gyrBA and topB transcripts. Thus, reduced levels of ParE appear to be compatible with cell survival, although there may be a fitness cost during rapid cell multiplication, which might be overcome by compensatory mechanisms without reversion of the resistance phenotype.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114-2696. Phone: (617) 726-3812. Fax: (617) 726-7416. E-mail: dhooper{at}partners.org.

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2003, p. 6883-6892, Vol. 185, No. 23
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.23.6883-6892.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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