Food Poisoning Bacterium Become Resistant To Antibiotics, Thanks To This Protein

A new protein has been identified that promotes the development of
antibiotic resistance in Campylobacter bacteria,
the most commonly recognized source of food poisoning, according to a
study released on June 5, 2008 in the open access journal PLoS
Pathogens.



Campylobacter jejuni is the most common foodbourne
bacterial pathogen in humans, and it is present even in developed
countries. Standard treatment for infection with this bacterium is the
broad-spectrum antimicrobial fluoroquinolone, but the organism has been
found in many strains around the world that are resistant to this
antidote. Previous studies have shown that Campylobacter
is actually highly susceptible to mutation towards antibiotic
resistance, but the reasons behind this trait have been unclear.



To investigate this, researchers from Iowa State University's College
of Veterinary Medicine, led by Dr. Qijing Zhang, employed various
molecular biology techniques to observe the response of Campylobacter
to changes in Mfd, a protein involved in DNA transcription and repair,
in the presence of fluoroquinolone. They found that elimination of this
protein from the bacterium precipitated a 100-fold reduction in the
rate of creation of new strains that were resistant. This indicates
that this protein likely plays an important role in this type of
mutation.



Thusfar, Mfd had not been recognized with the function of promoting
antibiotic resistance. It is possible that other factors influence the
mutation frequency of these and similar organisms, so further study is
necessary to elucidate other influential aspects of this mechanism.



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Key Role of Mfd in the Development of Fluoroquinolone
Resistance in Campylobacter jejuni.

Han J, Sahin O, Barton Y-W, Zhang Q

PLoS Pathog 4(6): e1000083.

doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1000083

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Here For Full Length Article



Anna Sophia McKenney