What is going on here? Microbiologist Robin Sorg, first author of the paper, explains: 'The resistant cells take up the chloramphenicol and deactivate it. At a certain point, the concentration in the growth medium drops below a critical level and the non-resistant cells start growing.' Something like this has been seen before. 'Cells with resistance to penicillin can secrete beta-lactamase enzymes which break down the antibiotic. But in our case, the antibiotic is deactivated inside the resistant cells.'
So susceptible bacteria can survive longer when resistant bacteria are present, and in the end even outcompete them. What does this mean for the spread of antibiotic resistance? 'It is complicated', Sorg says. 'We know that antibiotic usage results in selection for resistance. However, we do not fully understand the processes, nor why antibiotic resistance can develop so fast. Single cell studies like ours help to fill in some of these details.'
One thing that should be noted is that the susceptible cells in the experiment stop growing, but don't die. 'Many antibiotic-induced killing mechanisms rely on dividing cells, or at least on cells with an active metabolism.' What doesn't kill the cells will perhaps not make them stronger, but certainly gives them time to pick up resistance genes from their environment.
This knowledge can inform doctors when treating a patient with antibiotics. 'We know that we should use these drugs with discretion, but we may need to be even more careful than we thought.' Sorg sketches a personalized-medicine approach, in which the non-pathogenic microbes present in a patient are checked for resistance genes. 'That would increase the risk of a transfer to pathogens.'
To prevent the occurrence of resistance in non-pathogenic microorganisms, it is of course important to use antibiotics as sparingly as possible. And perhaps one day, when our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the spread of antibiotic resistance is more complete, we may find a way to stop it.
See:
Robin A. Sorg, Leo Lin, G. Sander van Doorn, Moritz Sorg, Joshua Olson, Victor Nizet, and Jan-Willem Veening. Collective Resistance in Microbial Communities by Intracellular Antibiotic Deactivation. PLOS Biology, 27 December 2016 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2000631
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle
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