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JAC Advance Access published online on July 1, 2004
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, doi:10.1093/jac/dkh351
© 2004 by The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
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Received March 3, 2004
Revised June 1, 2004
Accepted June 6, 2004

Original article

Identification of genes involved in the susceptibility of Serratia marcescens to polyquaternium-1

Caroline E. Codling 1, Brian V. Jones 2, Eshwar Mahenthiralingam 2*, A. Denver Russell 1, Jean-Yves Maillard 3

1 Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3XF, UK
2 Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3TL, UK
3 School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Science, Brighton University, Brighton BN2 4GJ, UK

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: MahenthiralingamE{at}cardiff.ac.uk.


  Abstract

Objectives: Polyquaternium-1 (PQ-1) is a biocide used commercially in a contact lens disinfecting solution, ‘Opti-Free Express (Alcon) Multi-Purpose Disinfecting Solution’. The genetic basis for resistance of Serratia marcescens to PQ-1 was investigated using a random transposon-based mutagenesis approach.

Methods: S. marcescens was subjected to random transposon mutagenesis using a mini-Tn5 Km2 transposon. Mutants with increased susceptibility to PQ-1 were selected and the disrupted genes were identified. Antibiotic susceptibility profiles were also determined for all of the mutants.

Results: A wide range of genes were found to be disrupted in the mutants. The most common were genes associated with the cell membranes, or involved in biosynthesis and metabolism.

Conclusions: This study shows that random transposon mutagenesis is an effective tool for the elucidation of mechanisms of action and resistance to biocides. The results support our previous findings that PQ-1 is active against the cytoplasmic membrane of S. marcescens.

Keywords: S. marcescens; biocides; antibiotics; transposon mutagenesis; gene identification; genetics.
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