Involvement of Efflux Pumps in the Resistance to Peptidoglycan Synthesis Inhibitors in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Abstract

We evaluated the contributions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis efflux pumps towards intrinsic resistance to different classes of peptidoglycan synthesis inhibitors (PSI). Our study indicates that the efflux pump knockout strains are more susceptible to PSI than the wild type. Vancomycin and ceftriaxone exhibited up to 3 log increased kill on efflux pump mutants compared to the wild-type strain, strongly suggesting an important role for efflux pumps in the intrinsic resistance of M. tuberculosis to PSI.