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

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Main Category: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;  GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology
Article Date: 06 Jun 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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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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PLoS Pathogens (www.plospathogens.org) publishes outstanding original articles that significantly advance the understanding of pathogens and how they interact with their host organisms. All works published in PLoS Pathogens are open access. Everything is immediately available subject only to the condition that the original authorship and source are properly attributed. Copyright is retained by the authors. The Public Library of Science uses the Creative Commons Attribution License.

About the Public Library of Science
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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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Written by Anna Sophia McKenney
Copyright: Medical News Today
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