Epistasis between antibiotic resistance mutations and genetic background shape the fitness effect of resistance across species of Pseudomonas

Antibiotic resistance often evolves by mutations at conserved sites in essential genes, resulting in parallel molecular evolution between divergent bacterial strains and species. Whether these resistance mutations are having parallel effects on fitness across bacterial taxa, however, is unclear. Thi...

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Main Authors: Maclean, R, Vogwill, T, Kojadinovic, M
Format: Journal article
Published: Royal Society 2016
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author Maclean, R
Vogwill, T
Kojadinovic, M
author_facet Maclean, R
Vogwill, T
Kojadinovic, M
author_sort Maclean, R
collection OXFORD
description Antibiotic resistance often evolves by mutations at conserved sites in essential genes, resulting in parallel molecular evolution between divergent bacterial strains and species. Whether these resistance mutations are having parallel effects on fitness across bacterial taxa, however, is unclear. This is an important point to address, because the fitness effects of resistance mutations play a key role in the spread and maintenance of resistance in pathogen populations. We address this idea by measuring the fitness effect of a collection of rifampicin resistance mutations in the β subunit of RNA polymerase (rpoB) across 8 strains that span the diversity of the genus Pseudomonas. We find that almost 50% of rpoB mutations have background-dependent fitness costs, demonstrating that epistatic interactions between rpoB and the rest of the genome are common. Moreover, epistasis is typically strong, and it is the dominant genetic determinant of the cost of resistance mutations. To investigate the functional basis of epistasis, we measured the effects of common rpoB mutations on transcriptional efficiency across 3 strains of Pseudomonas. Transcriptional efficiency correlates strongly to fitness across strains, and epistasis arises because individual rpoB mutations have differential effects on transcriptional efficiency in different genetic backgrounds.
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spelling oxford-uuid:af4413a5-ed99-445e-8651-cfb25539255e2022-03-27T03:48:20ZEpistasis between antibiotic resistance mutations and genetic background shape the fitness effect of resistance across species of PseudomonasJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:af4413a5-ed99-445e-8651-cfb25539255eSymplectic Elements at OxfordRoyal Society2016Maclean, RVogwill, TKojadinovic, MAntibiotic resistance often evolves by mutations at conserved sites in essential genes, resulting in parallel molecular evolution between divergent bacterial strains and species. Whether these resistance mutations are having parallel effects on fitness across bacterial taxa, however, is unclear. This is an important point to address, because the fitness effects of resistance mutations play a key role in the spread and maintenance of resistance in pathogen populations. We address this idea by measuring the fitness effect of a collection of rifampicin resistance mutations in the β subunit of RNA polymerase (rpoB) across 8 strains that span the diversity of the genus Pseudomonas. We find that almost 50% of rpoB mutations have background-dependent fitness costs, demonstrating that epistatic interactions between rpoB and the rest of the genome are common. Moreover, epistasis is typically strong, and it is the dominant genetic determinant of the cost of resistance mutations. To investigate the functional basis of epistasis, we measured the effects of common rpoB mutations on transcriptional efficiency across 3 strains of Pseudomonas. Transcriptional efficiency correlates strongly to fitness across strains, and epistasis arises because individual rpoB mutations have differential effects on transcriptional efficiency in different genetic backgrounds.
spellingShingle Maclean, R
Vogwill, T
Kojadinovic, M
Epistasis between antibiotic resistance mutations and genetic background shape the fitness effect of resistance across species of Pseudomonas
title Epistasis between antibiotic resistance mutations and genetic background shape the fitness effect of resistance across species of Pseudomonas
title_full Epistasis between antibiotic resistance mutations and genetic background shape the fitness effect of resistance across species of Pseudomonas
title_fullStr Epistasis between antibiotic resistance mutations and genetic background shape the fitness effect of resistance across species of Pseudomonas
title_full_unstemmed Epistasis between antibiotic resistance mutations and genetic background shape the fitness effect of resistance across species of Pseudomonas
title_short Epistasis between antibiotic resistance mutations and genetic background shape the fitness effect of resistance across species of Pseudomonas
title_sort epistasis between antibiotic resistance mutations and genetic background shape the fitness effect of resistance across species of pseudomonas
work_keys_str_mv AT macleanr epistasisbetweenantibioticresistancemutationsandgeneticbackgroundshapethefitnesseffectofresistanceacrossspeciesofpseudomonas
AT vogwillt epistasisbetweenantibioticresistancemutationsandgeneticbackgroundshapethefitnesseffectofresistanceacrossspeciesofpseudomonas
AT kojadinovicm epistasisbetweenantibioticresistancemutationsandgeneticbackgroundshapethefitnesseffectofresistanceacrossspeciesofpseudomonas