title: Phenotypic conversion of drug-resistant bacteria to drug sensitivity.
abstract: Plasmids that contain synthetic genes coding for small oligoribonucleotides called external guide sequences (EGSs) have been introduced into strains of Escherichia coli harboring antibiotic resistance genes. The EGSs direct RNase P to cleave the mRNAs transcribed from these genes thereby converting the phenotype of drug-resistant cells to drug sensitivity. Increasing the EGS-to-target mRNA ratio by changing gene copy number or the number of EGSs complementary to different target sites enhances the efficiency of the conversion process. We demonstrate a general method for the efficient phenotypic conversion of drug-resistant bacterial cultures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guerrier-Takada
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salavati
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Altman
mesh_terms: D004351:Drug Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D004722:Endoribonucleases / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D010641:Phenotype; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D043262:Ribonuclease P; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D004722:Endoribonucleases; D043262:Ribonuclease P; C470865:ribonuclease P, E coli