0000000000141982
AUTHOR
Teresa M. Coque
Phylogenomics of Enterococcus faecalis from wild birds: new insights into host‐associated differences in core and accessory genomes of the species
Wild birds have been suggested to be reservoirs of antimicrobial resistant and/or pathogenic Enterococcus faecalis (Efs) strains, but the scarcity of studies and available sequences limit our understanding of the population structure of the species in these hosts. Here, we analysed the clonal and plasmid diversity of 97 Efs isolates from wild migratory birds. We found a high diversity, with most sequence types (STs) being firstly described here, while others were found in other hosts including some predominant in poultry. We found that pheromone‐responsive plasmids predominate in wild bird Efs while 35% of the isolates entirely lack plasmids. Then, to better understand the ecology of the sp…
Mutational Events in Cefotaximase Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamases of the CTX-M-1 Cluster Involved in Ceftazidime Resistance
ABSTRACT CTX-M β-lactamases, which show a high cefotaxime hydrolytic activity, constitute the most prevalent extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) type found among clinical isolates. The recent explosive diversification of CTX-M enzymes seems to have taken place due to the appearance of more efficient enzymes which are capable of hydrolyzing both cefotaxime and ceftazidime, especially among the CTX-M-1 cluster. A combined strategy of in vitro stepwise evolution experiments using bla CTX-M-1 , bla CTX-M-3 , and bla CTX-M-10 genes and site-directed mutagenesis has been used to evaluate the role of ceftazidime and other β-lactam antibiotics in triggering the diversity found among enzymes belong…
Simulating multilevel dynamics of antimicrobial resistance in a membrane computing model
Membrane computing is a bio-inspired computing paradigm whose devices are the so-called membrane systems or P systems. The P system designed in this work reproduces complex biological landscapes in the computer world. It uses nested “membrane-surrounded entities” able to divide, propagate, and die; to be transferred into other membranes; to exchange informative material according to flexible rules; and to mutate and be selected by external agents. This allows the exploration of hierarchical interactive dynamics resulting from the probabilistic interaction of genes (phenotypes), clones, species, hosts, environments, and antibiotic challenges. Our model facilitates analysis of several aspects…
A membrane computing simulator of trans-hierarchical antibiotic resistance evolution dynamics in nested ecological compartments (ARES)
In this article, we introduce ARES (Antibiotic Resistance Evolution Simulator) a software device that simulates P-system model scenarios with five types of nested computing membranes oriented to emulate a hierarchy of eco-biological compartments, i.e. a) peripheral ecosystem; b) local environment; c) reservoir of supplies; d) animal host; and e) host's associated bacterial organisms (microbiome). Computational objects emulating molecular entities such as plasmids, antibiotic resistance genes, antimicrobials, and/or other substances can be introduced into this framework and may interact and evolve together with the membranes, according to a set of pre-established rules and specifications. AR…
Simulating the Influence of Conjugative Plasmids Kinetic Values on the Multilevel Dynamics of Antimicrobial Resistance in a Membrane Computing Model
AbstractPlasmids harboring antibiotic resistance genes differ in their kinetic values as plasmid conjugation rate, segregation rate by incompatibility with related plasmids, rate of stochastic loss during replication, cost reducing the host-cell fitness, and frequency of compensatory mutations to reduce plasmid cost, depending on the cell mutation frequency. How variation in these values influence the success of a plasmid and their resistance genes in complex ecosystems, as the microbiota? Genes are located in plasmids, plasmids in cells, cells in populations. These populations are embedded in ensembles of species in different human hosts, are able to exchange between them bacterial ensembl…