Human intestinal cells modulate conjugational transfer of multidrug resistance plasmids between clinical Escherichia coli isolates.
Bacterial conjugation in the human gut microbiota is believed to play a major role in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes and virulence plasmids. However, the modulation of bacterial conjugation by the human host remains poorly understood and there is a need for controlled systems to st...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2014-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24955767/pdf/?tool=EBI |
| Summary: | Bacterial conjugation in the human gut microbiota is believed to play a major role in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes and virulence plasmids. However, the modulation of bacterial conjugation by the human host remains poorly understood and there is a need for controlled systems to study this process. We established an in vitro co-culture system to study the interaction between human intestinal cells and bacteria. We show that the conjugation efficiency of a plasmid encoding an extended spectrum beta-lactamase is reduced when clinical isolates of Escherichia coli are co-cultured with human intestinal cells. We show that filtered media from co-cultures contain a factor that reduces conjugation efficiency. Protease treatment of the filtered media eliminates this inhibition of conjugation. This data suggests that a peptide or protein based factor is secreted on the apical side of the intestinal cells exposed to bacteria leading to a two-fold reduction in conjugation efficiency. These results show that human gut epithelial cells can modulate bacterial conjugation and may have relevance to gene exchange in the gut. |
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| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |