Antibiotic resistance of next-generation microbial workhorses:a case of Vibrio sp.FA2

Abstract:

[Background] Antibiotic resistance in bacteria is one of the current challenges,and the study of antibiotic resistance is therefore a critical way to address this challenge.Vibrio sp.FA2,a new strain isolated from the environment,has fast growth,and its growth rate is even faster than that of the reported fast-growing strain Vibrio natriegens 14048.Vibrio sp.FA2 can use a variety of carbon sources,showing great potential to serve as the next-generation biotechnological workhorse and can be used to develop efficient strains for compound production.[Objective] We have found that FA2 has multiple antibiotic resistance,which is not conducive to genetic engineering operation and will bring ecological risks in industrial application.Therefore,it is essential to study the antibiotic resistance and knock out the resistance genes from this strain.[Methods]We profiled the antibiotic resistance of FA2 by susceptibility experiments with multiple antibiotics such as β-lactams (represented by ampicillin) and aminoglycosides,and then mined the genes related to the resistance by genome annotation.The mutants were constructed through knockout of the target genes related to ampicillin resistance.Finally,the resistance to ampicillin and the growth were compared between the knockout mutants and FA2.[Results] FA2 had strong resistance to several β-lactam antibiotics and carried three possible ampicillin resistance genes:carB6,ampC2,and ampC1.The resistance changes of the mutants indicated that the genes knockout increased the strain susceptibility to ampicillin.[Conclusion] This study clarifies the antibiotic resistance of FA2 and eliminates the resistance of FA2 to ampicillin,laying a foundation for the development and transformation of FA2 as a microbial workhorse.