Transcription profiling by tiling array of Antimicrobial Treatment Improves Mycobacterial Survival in Non-Permissive Growth Conditions.

ABSTRACT: Antimicrobials targeting cell wall biosynthesis are generally considered inactive against non-replicating bacteria. Paradoxically, we found that in non-permissive growth conditions exposure of Mycobacterium bovis BCG bacilli to such antimicrobials enhanced their survival. We identified a transcriptional regulator, Raas (for regulator of antimicrobial-assisted survival) encoded by bcg1279 (rv1219c) as being responsible for the observed phenomenon. Induction of this transcriptional regulator resulted in reduced expression of specific ATP-dependent efflux pumps and promoted long-term survival of mycobacteria, while its deletion accelerated bacterial death in non-permissive growth conditions in vitro and during macrophage or mouse infection. These findings have implications for the design of antimicrobial drug combination therapies for persistent infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. [Data is also available from http://bugs.sgul.ac.uk/E-BUGS-123]

ORGANISM(S): Mycobacterium tuberculosis

SUBMITTER: Adam Witney 

PROVIDER: E-BUGS-123 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress