β-Lactam resistance modulated by the overexpression of response regulators of two-component signal transduction systems in Escherichia coli

Objectives: In Escherichia coli, there are 32 open reading frames assumed, on the basis of sequence similarities, to be response regulator genes of two-component signal transduction systems. We cloned all 32 response regulators and examined whether or not response regulator-overexpressing cells confer resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics in E. coli. Methods: E. coli KAM3 (acrB), a drug-hypersusceptible mutant, was used as a host strain for the overproduction of response regulators. MICs were determined by the agar dilution method. Results: Thirteen response regulators out of 32 genes, namely baeR, cheY, cpxR, creB, evgA, fimZ, narL, ompR, rcsB, rstA, yedW, yehT and dcuR, conferred increased beta-lactam resistance. Among them, overexpression of baeR, evgA, rcsB and dcuR conferred high-level resistance. The baeR- and evgA-mediated resistance is due to up-regulation of the expression of multidrug exporter genes, acrD and mdtABC for baeR, and yhiUV for evgA, because baeR- and evgA-mediated resistance was completely absent in strains lacking these exporter genes. The fimZ-mediated cefalothin resistance is due to the chromosomal ampC gene, because the ampC deletion strain did not show fimZ-mediated resistance. Conclusions: Two-component signal transduction systems contribute to beta-lactam resistance in E. coli. Multidrug exporters play roles in two-component signal transduction system-mediated beta-lactam resistance.