Novel insight into the effects of CPXR on Salmonella enteritidis cells during the chlorhexidine treatment and non-stressful growing conditions

The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance is a significant global challenge. To solve this emerging problem, the discovery of novel bacterial cellular targets and the critical pathways associated with antimicrobial resistance is urgently needed. In this study, we investigated the role of the two most critical extracytoplasmic stress response regulators, RpoE and CpxR, on the physiology and susceptibility of growing Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis cells using the polycationic antimicrobial agent, chlorhexidine (CHX). We showed that deletion of the cpxR gene significantly increased the susceptibility of this organism, whereas deletion of the rpoE gene had no effect on the pathogen’s susceptibility to the drug. It has been shown that a lack of the CpxR regulator induces multifaceted stress responses not only in the envelope but also in the cytosol, further affecting the key biomolecules, including DNA, RNA, and proteins. We showed that alterations in cellular trafficking...