Enhancement of host fitness by the sul2-coding plasmid p9123 in the absence of selective pressure

Objectives: 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.