title: Correlation between resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to quaternary ammonium compounds and expression of outer membrane protein OprR.
abstract: The adaptation mechanism of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 10145 to quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) was investigated. A P. aeruginosa strain with adapted resistance to QACs was developed by a standard broth dilution method. It was revealed that P. aeruginosa exhibited remarkable resistance to N-dodecylpyridinium iodide (P-12), whose structure is similar to that of a common disinfectant, cetylpyridinium chloride. Adapted resistance to benzalkonium chloride (BAC), which is commonly used as a disinfectant, was also observed in P. aeruginosa. Moreover, the P-12-resistant strain exhibited cross-resistance to BAC. Analysis of the outer membrane protein of the P-12-resistant strain by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed a significant increase in the level of expression of a protein (named OprR) whose molecular mass was approximately 26 kDa. The actual function of OprR is not yet clear; however, OprR was expected to be an outer membrane-associated protein with homology to lipoproteins of other bacterial species, according to a search of the National Center for Biotechnology Information website with the BLAST program by use of the N-terminal sequence of OprR. A correlation between the level of expression of OprR and the level of resistance of P. aeruginosa to QACs was observed by using a PA2800 gene knockout mutant derived from the P-12-resistant strain. The knockout mutant recovered susceptibility not only to P-12 but also to BAC. These results suggested that OprR significantly participated in the adaptation of P. aeruginosa to QACs, such as P-12 and BAC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokushima, Tokushima 770-8506, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tabata
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nagamune
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Yoichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kourai
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds