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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Stress-induced Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing on a Chip
Published on: January 8, 2014
Gamblers: An Antibiotic-Induced Evolvable Cell Subpopulation Differentiated by Reactive-Oxygen-Induced General Stress
John P Pribis1, Libertad García-Villada2, Yin Zhai2
1Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; The Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Graduate Program in Integrative Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Abstract:
Antibiotics can induce mutations that cause antibiotic resistance. Yet, despite their importance, mechanisms of antibiotic-promoted mutagenesis remain elusive. We report that the fluoroquinolone antibiotic ciprofloxacin (cipro) induces mutations by triggering transient differentiation of a mutant-generating cell subpopulation, using reactive oxygen species (ROS). Cipro-induced DNA breaks activate the Escherichia coli SOS DNA-damage response and error-prone DNA polymerases in all cells. However, mutagenesis is limited to a cell subpopulation in which electron transfer together with SOS induce ROS, which activate the sigma-S (σS) general-stress response, which allows mutagenic DNA-break repair. When sorted, this small σS-response-"on" subpopulation produces most antibiotic cross-resistant mutants. A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug prevents σS induction, specifically inhibiting antibiotic-promoted mutagenesis. Further, SOS-inhibited cell division, which causes multi-chromosome cells, promotes mutagenesis. The data support a model in which within-cell chromosome cooperation together with development of a "gambler" cell subpopulation promote resistance evolution without risking most cells.
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