Enhancement of host fitness by the sul2-coding plasmid p9123 in the absence of selective pressure.
OBJECTIVE
Despite a 97% reduction in clinical sulphonamide usage, the prevalence of sulphonamide resistance among Escherichia coli has remained constant in the UK. Genetic linkage of sulphonamide resistance to other resistances is thought important for this maintenance, but the finding also implies that sulphonamide resistance exerts little fitness cost. To test this hypothesis, we examined the fitness impact of four naturally occurring sul2-coding plasmids upon their hosts.


METHODS
The fitness impact of the plasmids upon E. coli was determined by pairwise growth competition in a minimal medium. The DNA sequence of plasmid p9123 was obtained by primer walking and PCR.


RESULTS
Three of the four sul2-coding plasmids studied imposed fitness costs on their hosts. The fourth plasmid, a 6.2 kb resistance element carrying sul2, strA and strB designated p9123, conferred a 4% fitness advantage upon its original clinical host and also on E. coli K12 JM109. The complete sequence of p9123 revealed eight open reading frames, including five of unknown function. There was no obvious gene to which the fitness advantage might be attributed.


CONCLUSIONS
The novel finding that p9123 can improve host fitness may explain why this plasmid and its close relatives are so widespread among enteric bacteria. In addition to other factors such as co-selection of sulphonamide resistance by other agents, the fitness advantage conferred by plasmids such as p9123 may have contributed to the maintenance of sulphonamide resistance in the UK in the absence of clinical selection pressure. These data indicate that once antibiotic resistance has been established on mobile genetic elements, it may be difficult to eliminate.
Enne
Virve I
VI
Bristol Centre for Antimicrobial Research, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Bristol, Medical Sciences Building, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TD. v.i.enne@bristol.ac.uk
Bennett
Peter M
PM
Livermore
David M
DM
Hall
Lucinda M C
LM
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics*; D013449:Sulfonamides / Q000494:pharmacology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C491369:Sul2 protein, bacteria; D013449:Sulfonamides