Resistome in Streptomyces rimosus – A Reservoir of Aminoglycoside Antibiotics Resistance Genes

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Maria G. Alekseeva^1,a*, Natalya N. Rudakova¹, Anatoly V. Ratkin¹, Dilara A. Mavletova¹, and Valeriy N. Danilenko¹

¹Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received March 16, 2023; Revised April 20, 2023; Accepted April 20, 2023

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Investigation of aminoglycoside acetyltransferases in actinobacteria of the genus Streptomyces is an integral part of the study of soil bacteria as the main reservoir and possible source of drug resistance genes. Previously, we have identified and biochemically characterized three aminoglycoside phosphotransferases, which cause resistance to kanamycin, neomycin, paromomycin, streptomycin, and hygromycin B in the strain Streptomyces rimosus ATCC 10970 (producing oxytetracycline), which is resistant to most natural aminoglycoside antibiotics. In the presented work, it was shown that the resistance of this strain to other AGs is associated with the presence of the enzyme aminoglycoside acetyltransferase, belonging to the AAC(2′) subfamily. Induction of the expression of the gene, designated by us as aac(2′)-If, in Escherichia coli cells determines resistance to a wide range of natural aminoglycoside antibiotics (neomycin, gentamicin, tobramycin, sisomycin, and paromomycin) and increases minimum inhibitory concentrations of these antibiotics.

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KEY WORDS: multidrug resistance, Streptomyces rimosus, aminoglycoside acetyltransferase, MICs for aminoglycoside antibiotics

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297923060019

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