Adenine methylation and antimicrobial resistance

Development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to be a global concern. In order to minimise the impact of such it is imperative to gather as much data as possible on the mechanisms and key pathways involved. The aim of this project was to investigate the role of adenine methylation in the development of resistance to triclosan and associated antibiotic cross-resistance. Triclosan resistance was induced in E. coli through repeated exposure to sub-inhibitory concentrations. Pacbio SMRT sequencing was used to identify methylated bases in both wild type and resistance bacteria. Modified bases within genes were identified through genome annotation, and differentially methylated genes collated. E. coli rapidly became resistant to triclosan and exhibited increased resistance to multiple antibiotics. There were no statistically significant differences in global methylation. A number of genes associated with a range of functions were seen to be differentially methylated between the wild type and resistant cultures.