Microbiology news and views

J. Mol. Micro. Biotechnol. 3: 179-184

Enterococcus faecalis Multi-Drug Resistance Transporters: Application for Antibiotic Discovery

Deborah vR. Davis, James B. McAlpine, Christopher J. Pazoles, M. Kelly Talbot, Elisabeth A. Alder, Abbie C. White, Brandie M. Jonas, Barbara E. Murray, George M. Weinstock, and Bruce L. Rogers

Using bioinformatics approaches, 34 potential multi-drug resistance (MDR) transporter sequences representing 4 different transporter families were identified in the unannotated Enterococcus faecalis database (TIGR). A functional genomics campaign generating single-gene insertional disruptions revealed several genes whose absence confers significant hypersensitivities to known antimicrobials. We constructed specific strains, disrupted in a variety of previously unpublished, putative MDR transporter genes, as tools to improve the success of whole-cell antimicrobial screening and discovery. Each of the potential transporters was inactivated at the gene level and then phenotypically characterized, both with single disruption mutants and with 2-gene mutants built upon a D norA deleted strain background.

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