Revision as of 17:19, 30 July 2008

Antibiotic Resistance Basic Parts

Introduction to Antibiotic Resistance

The established mechanisms of antibiotic resistance include the following:

1. Enzymes that inactivate the antibiotic [famously (a). beta-lactamases that destroy penicillins and related compounds and (b) enzymes that acetylate chloramphenicol].
2. Proteins that keep antibiotics out of the cell (by blocking the outer-membrane pores).
3. Membrane-embedded channel proteins that actively pump antibiotics out of the cell.
4. Proteins (and RNAs) with altered drug binding sites. (Vancomycin resistance comes from a switch in the chemistry of the cell-wall cross-linking peptide). This category also includes mutations in ribosomal RNA -- ribosomes are one of the main targets of both prokaryote- and eukaryote-directed antibiotics.
5. Proteins that enable substitution of an alternative metabolic pathway (as in the case of sulfonamide resistance).

Parts by Category

NB Parts listed in boldface are "good" parts ["Available" and (in most cases) "Work"]. Parts in plain type are poorly characterized.

1. Antibiotic-inactivating Enzymes

Basic parts

BBa_J23012

BBa_J31002

BBa_J31003

BBa_J31004

BBa_J31005

BBa_J42020

BBa_J42021

Plasmids

BBa_K125000

Cells

BBa_V1016

BBa_V1019

2. Membrane-blocking Proteins

3. Membrane-embedded Efflux Pumps

Basic parts

BBa_J31006

BBa_J31007

4. Altered Target Molecules

Basic parts

BBa_J42010

5. Components of Alternative Metabolic Pathways

Antibiotic Resistance Devices

These are BioBrick composite parts that contain (one or more?) antibiotic resistance components.

Note: Antibiotic resistance genes are present in most of the plasmids supplied by the Registry (see Plasmid.)

WHAT ABOUT THE VARIOUS CELL LINES OFFERED AS CHASSIS?

Useful Information about Antibiotic Resistance

Links

Aminoglycoside Resistance

This category includes kanamycin, streptomycin, gentamycin, neomycin, tobramycin, amikacin...

http://www.antibioresistance.be/aminoglycosides.html

http://openwetware.org/wiki/Kanamycin

Tetracycline Resistance

This category includes three different resistance mechanisms. Related antibiotics are tetracycline, chlortetracycline, doxycycline, minocycline, oxytetracycline, spectinomycin. Note that the TetR gene encodes a very popular repressor that is frequently used in synthetic biology simply as a single control element in cells that do not express tetracycline resistance. [Check this.]

http://www.antibioresistance.be/Tetracycline/Menu_Tet.html

http://openwetware.org/wiki/Tetracycline

http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/5/4/387