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fosI Is a New Integron-Associated Gene Cassette Encoding Reduced Susceptibility to Fosfomycin

Karla de Oliveira Pelegrino1, Juliana Coutinho Campos2, Suely Carlos Ferreira Sampaio3

  • 1School of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Department, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
|November 11, 2015
PubMed

Insights

The newly identified fosI gene encodes a small protein that reduces bacterial susceptibility to the antibiotic fosfomycin. This discovery is crucial for understanding and combating antibiotic resistance.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health threat.
  • Fosfomycin is an important antibiotic used to treat various bacterial infections.
  • Understanding the genetic mechanisms of fosfomycin resistance is critical for its continued efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify and characterize novel genes conferring resistance to fosfomycin.
  • To elucidate the role of the identified fosI gene in fosfomycin susceptibility.

Main Methods:

  • Gene cloning and expression in Escherichia coli.
  • Determination of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) for fosfomycin.
  • Bioinformatic prediction of protein characteristics.

Main Results:

  • The fosI gene encodes a predicted 134-amino acid protein.
  • Introduction of the fosI gene via plasmid pBRA100 increased the MIC from 0.125 to 6 μg/ml in E. coli TOP10.
  • Cloning and expression of fosI in the pBC_SK(-) vector further increased the MIC to 16 μg/ml.

Conclusions:

  • The fosI gene is a determinant of reduced susceptibility to fosfomycin.
  • The fosI gene product likely plays a role in the resistance mechanism against fosfomycin.
  • Further studies are warranted to fully understand the mechanism of action of the FosI protein.

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