Silent Genes: Antimicrobial Resistance and Antibiotic Production

Overview

Journal Pol J Microbiol

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2022 Jan 10

PMID 35003274

Authors

Monika Stasiak

Elzbieta Mackiw

Joanna Kowalska

Katarzyna Kucharek

Jacek Postupolski

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Silent genes are DNA sequences that are generally not expressed or expressed at a very low level. These genes become active as a result of mutation, recombination, or insertion. Silent genes can also be activated in laboratory conditions using pleiotropic, targeted genome-wide, or biosynthetic gene cluster approaches. Like every other gene, silent genes can spread through horizontal gene transfer. Most studies have focused on strains with phenotypic resistance, which is the most common subject. However, to fully understand the mechanism behind the spreading of antibiotic resistance, it is reasonable to study the whole resistome, including silent genes.

Citing Articles

Genomic typing, antimicrobial resistance gene, virulence factor and plasmid replicon database for the important pathogenic bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Shelenkov A, Slavokhotova A, Mikhaylova Y, Akimkin V BMC Microbiol. 2025; 25(1):3.

PMID: 39762743 PMC: 11702089. DOI: 10.1186/s12866-024-03720-8.

Prevalence and clinical significance of the genotypic carriage among ESBL phenotype-negative and clinical isolates in bacteremia: a study in a Malaysian tertiary center.

Lau C, Neoh H, Periyasamy P, Tg Abu Bakar Sidik T, Tan T, Ramli R Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2024; 14:1429830.

PMID: 39512590 PMC: 11540778. DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1429830.

Virulence, multiple drug resistance, and biofilm-formation in Salmonella species isolated from layer, broiler, and dual-purpose indigenous chickens.

Dlamini S, Mlambo V, Mnisi C, Ateba C PLoS One. 2024; 19(10):e0310010.

PMID: 39466757 PMC: 11515961. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310010.

Antimicrobial and Phylogenomic Characterization of Group Strains Isolated from Different Food Sources in Italy.

Farina D, Bianco A, Manzulli V, Castellana S, Parisi A, Caruso M Antibiotics (Basel). 2024; 13(9).

PMID: 39335071 PMC: 11444136. DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics13090898.

Molecular genotyping reveals multiple carbapenemase genes and unique bla (oxaAb) alleles among clinically isolated Acinetobacter baumannii from a Philippine tertiary hospital.

Carascal M, Destura R, Rivera W Trop Med Health. 2024; 52(1):62.

PMID: 39327611 PMC: 11426070. DOI: 10.1186/s41182-024-00629-w.

References

Ali S, Xia B, Liu J, Navarre W . Silencing of foreign DNA in bacteria. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2012; 15(2):175-81. DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2011.12.014. View

Carvalho K, DAlincourt Carvalho-Assef A, Santos L, Pereira M, Asensi M . Occurrence of blaOXA-23 gene in imipenem-susceptible Acinetobacter baumannii. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2011; 106(4):505-6. DOI: 10.1590/s0074-02762011000400020. View

Barlow M, Hall B . Phylogenetic analysis shows that the OXA beta-lactamase genes have been on plasmids for millions of years. J Mol Evol. 2002; 55(3):314-21. DOI: 10.1007/s00239-002-2328-y. View

Magnet S, Courvalin P, Lambert T . Activation of the cryptic aac(6')-Iy aminoglycoside resistance gene of Salmonella by a chromosomal deletion generating a transcriptional fusion. J Bacteriol. 1999; 181(21):6650-5. PMC: 94128. DOI: 10.1128/JB.181.21.6650-6655.1999. View

Tamburini E, Mastromei G . Do bacterial cryptic genes really exist?. Res Microbiol. 2000; 151(3):179-82. DOI: 10.1016/s0923-2508(00)00137-6. View

Heuer H, Schmitt H, Smalla K . Antibiotic resistance gene spread due to manure application on agricultural fields. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2011; 14(3):236-43. DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2011.04.009. View

Kime L, Randall C, Banda F, Coll F, Wright J, Richardson J . Transient Silencing of Antibiotic Resistance by Mutation Represents a Significant Potential Source of Unanticipated Therapeutic Failure. mBio. 2019; 10(5). PMC: 6819657. DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01755-19. View

Brenciani A, Bacciaglia A, Vecchi M, Vitali L, Varaldo P, Giovanetti E . Genetic elements carrying erm(B) in Streptococcus pyogenes and association with tet(M) tetracycline resistance gene. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2007; 51(4):1209-16. PMC: 1855496. DOI: 10.1128/AAC.01484-06. View

Hall B, Yokoyama S, Calhoun D . Role of cryptic genes in microbial evolution. Mol Biol Evol. 1983; 1(1):109-24. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040300. View

10.

Andremont A . The future control of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents. Am J Infect Control. 2001; 29(4):256-8. DOI: 10.1067/mic.2001.115672. View

11.

Temme K, Zhao D, Voigt C . Refactoring the nitrogen fixation gene cluster from Klebsiella oxytoca. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012; 109(18):7085-90. PMC: 3345007. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1120788109. View

12.

Hanau-Bercot B, Podglajen I, Casin I, Collatz E . An intrinsic control element for translational initiation in class 1 integrons. Mol Microbiol. 2002; 44(1):119-30. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.2002.02843.x. View

13.

Seyedsayamdost M . High-throughput platform for the discovery of elicitors of silent bacterial gene clusters. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014; 111(20):7266-71. PMC: 4034229. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1400019111. View

14.

von Wintersdorff C, Penders J, van Niekerk J, Mills N, Majumder S, van Alphen L . Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance in Microbial Ecosystems through Horizontal Gene Transfer. Front Microbiol. 2016; 7:173. PMC: 4759269. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00173. View

15.

Yang W, Moore I, Koteva K, Bareich D, Hughes D, Wright G . TetX is a flavin-dependent monooxygenase conferring resistance to tetracycline antibiotics. J Biol Chem. 2004; 279(50):52346-52. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M409573200. View

16.

Park B, Hendricks M, MALAMY M, Tally F, Levy S . Cryptic tetracycline resistance determinant (class F) from Bacteroides fragilis mediates resistance in Escherichia coli by actively reducing tetracycline accumulation. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1987; 31(11):1739-43. PMC: 175031. DOI: 10.1128/AAC.31.11.1739. View

17.

Canton R . Antibiotic resistance genes from the environment: a perspective through newly identified antibiotic resistance mechanisms in the clinical setting. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2009; 15 Suppl 1:20-5. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2008.02679.x. View

18.

Wright G . The antibiotic resistome: the nexus of chemical and genetic diversity. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2007; 5(3):175-86. DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro1614. View

19.

Rigali S, Anderssen S, Naome A, van Wezel G . Cracking the regulatory code of biosynthetic gene clusters as a strategy for natural product discovery. Biochem Pharmacol. 2018; 153:24-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2018.01.007. View

20.

Xu F, Nazari B, Moon K, Bushin L, Seyedsayamdost M . Discovery of a Cryptic Antifungal Compound from Streptomyces albus J1074 Using High-Throughput Elicitor Screens. J Am Chem Soc. 2017; 139(27):9203-9212. PMC: 5617735. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b02716. View