RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Benzoate and Salicylate Tolerant Strains Lose Antibiotic Resistance during Laboratory Evolution of Escherichia coli K-12 JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 063271 DO 10.1101/063271 A1 Kaitlin E. Creamer A1 Frederick S. Ditmars A1 Preston J. Basting A1 Karina S. Kunka A1 Issam N. Hamdallah A1 Sean P. Bush A1 Zachary Scott A1 Amanda He A1 Stephanie R. Penix A1 Alexandra S. Gonzales A1 Elizabeth K. Eder A1 Dominic Camperchioli A1 Adama Berndt A1 Michelle W. Clark A1 Kerry A. Rouhier A1 Joan L. Slonczewski YR 2016 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/10/22/063271.abstract AB Escherichia coli K-12 W3110 grows in the presence of membrane-permeant organic acids that can depress cytoplasmic pH and accumulate in the cytoplasm. We conducted experimental evolution by daily diluting cultures in increasing concentrations of benzoic acid (up to 20 mM) buffered at external pH 6.5, a pH at which permeant acids concentrate in the cytoplasm. By 2,000 generations, clones isolated from evolving populations showed increasing tolerance to benzoate but were sensitive to chloramphenicol and tetracycline. Sixteen clones grew to stationary phase in 20 mM benzoate, whereas the ancestral strain W3110 peaked and declined. Similar growth occurred in 10 mM salicylate. Benzoate-evolved strains grew like W3110 in the absence of benzoate; in media buffered at pH 4.8, pH 7.0, or pH 9.0; or in 20 mM acetate or sorbate at pH 6.5. Genomes of 16 strains revealed over 100 mutations including SNPs, large deletions, and insertion knockouts. Most strains acquired deletions in the benzoate-induced multiple antibiotic resistance (Mar) regulon or in associated regulators such as rob and cpxA, as well as MDR efflux pumps emrA, emrY, and mdtA. Strains also lost or down-regulated the Gad acid fitness regulon. In 5 mM benzoate, or in 2 mM salicylate (2-hydroxybenzoate), most strains showed increased sensitivity to the antibiotics chloramphenicol and tetracycline; some strains were more sensitive than a marA knockout. Thus, our benzoate-evolved strains may reveal additional unknown drug resistance components. Benzoate or salicylate selection pressure may cause general loss of MDR genes and regulators.IMPORTANCE Benzoate is a common food preservative, and salicylate is the primary active metabolite of aspirin. In the gut microbiome, genetic adaptation to salicylate may involve loss or downregulation of inducible multidrug resistance systems. This discovery implies that aspirin therapy may modulate the human gut microbiome to favor salicylate tolerance at the expense of drug resistance. Similar aspirin-associated loss of drug resistance might occur in bacterial pathogens found in arterial plaques.