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Implication of Mn-cofactored superoxide dismutase in the tolerance of swarmer Pseudomonas aeruginosa to polymixin, ciprofloxacin and meropenem antibiotics

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Abstract

The protective role of superoxide dismutase (Sod) against oxidative stress, resulting from the common antibiotic pathway of action, has been studied in the wild type and mutant strains of swarmer Pseudomonas aeruginosa, lacking Cytosolic Mn-Sod (sodM), Fe-Sod (sodB) or both Sods (sodMB).

Our results showed that inactivation of sodB genes leads to significant motility defects and tolerance to meropenem. This resistance is correlated with a greater membrane unsaturation as well as an effective intervention of Mn-Sod isoform, in antibiotic tolerance.

Moreover, loss of Mn-Sod in sodM mutant, leads to polymixin intolerance and is correlated with membrane unsaturation. Effectivelty, sodM mutant showed an enhanced swarming motility and a conserved rhamnolipid production. Whereas, in the double mutant sodMB, ciprofloxacin tolerance would be linked to an increase in the percentage of saturated fatty acids in the membrane, even in the absence of superoxide dismutase activity.

The overall results showed that Mn-Sod has a protective role in the tolerance to antibiotics, in swarmer P.aeruginosa strain. It has been further shown that Sod intervention in antibiotic tolerance is through change in membrane fatty acid composition.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Professor Moncef Feki of la Rabta-hospital biochemistry department in Tunisia for ensuring the Gaz chromatography analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Traitement des Eaux Usées, Centre de Recherches et Technologies des Eaux Usées Technopole Borj Cedria, BP 273, Soliman, 8020, Tunisie

    Salma Kloula Ben Ghorbal, Lobna Maalej & Abdelwaheb Chatti

  2. Laboratoire des Microorganismes et Biomolécules Actives (LMBA), Facult e des Sciences de Tunis Campus Universitaire, El Manar II, Tunisie

    Imene-Hadda Ouzari

  3. Unite de Biochimie des lipides et interactions des macromolécules en Biologie, Laboratoire de Biochimie et biologie moléculaire, Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Zarzouna, Bizerte, 7021, Tunisia

    Abdelwaheb Chatti

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  1. Salma Kloula Ben Ghorbal
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Ben Ghorbal, S.K., Maalej, L., Ouzari, IH. et al. Implication of Mn-cofactored superoxide dismutase in the tolerance of swarmer Pseudomonas aeruginosa to polymixin, ciprofloxacin and meropenem antibiotics. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 39, 347 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-023-03801-2

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