An acquired efflux system is responsible for copper resistance in Xanthomonas strain IG-8 isolated from China

Robert P. Ryan, David J. Ryan, Yi-Cheng Sun, Feng-Mei Li, Yiping Wang, David N. Dowling

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    28 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The genus Xanthomonas contains plant pathogens exhibiting innate resistance to a range of antimicrobial agents. In other genera, multidrug resistance is mediated by a synergy between a low-permeability outer membrane and expression of a number of multidrug efflux systems. This report describes the isolation of a novel gene cluster xmeRSA from Xanthomonas strain IG-8 that mediates copper chloride resistance. Subsequent analysis of these genes showed that they were responsible for the high level of multiple resistance in this strain and were homologues of the sme system of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. Knock-out mutants of this gene cluster indicate that these genes are required for the copper resistance phenotype of strain IG-8. Expression analysis using lacZ fusions indicates that the genes are regulated by copper and other antimicrobials. Bioinformatic analysis suggests that these genes were acquired by horizontal gene transfer.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)40-46
    Number of pages7
    JournalFEMS Microbiology Letters
    Volume268
    Issue number1
    Early online date11 Jan 2007
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2007

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