Responses of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to last resort antibiotics monitored by transcriptome and translatome analyses

In this study, we have employed RNA-seq and Ribo-seq to monitor the effects of sub-inhibitory concentrations of a polymyxin (colistin) and an aminoglycoside (tobramycin) on gene expression of the clinical Pae isolate PA14. We found that in addition to decreasing antibiotic uptake through anr operon activation and subsequent LPS modification, Pae responds to colistin by launching an anti-oxidative response and by up-regulating genes belonging to the MexT regulon. Concerning tobramycin, Pae seemingly goes through metabolic changes and envelope remodeling to prevent tobramycin uptake, whereas its ramifications on translational processes are met with stalled ribosome rescue response and activation of type II toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems.