The evolution of fluoroquinolone resistance in Salmonella under exposure to sub-inhibitory concentration of enrofloxacin

The evolution of resistance in Salmonella to fluoroquinolones (FQs) under a broad range of sub-inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) has not been systematically studied. This study investigated the mechanism of resistance development in Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis ( S . Enteritidis) under sub-MICs of 1/128×MIC to 1/2×MIC of enrofloxacin (ENR), a widely used veterinary FQ. It was shown that the resistance rate and resistance level of S . Enteritidis varied with the increase of ENR concentration and duration of selection. qRT-PCR results demonstrated that the expression of outer membrane porin (OMP) genes, ompF, ompC and ompD , were down-regulated first to rapidly adapt and develop resistance of ≤ 4×MIC, and as the resistance level increased (≥8×MIC), the up-regulated expression of efflux pump genes, acrB, emrB amd mdfA , along with mutations in quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR) gradually played a decisive role. Cytohubba analysis based on transcriptomic profiles demonstrated that purB, purC, purD, purF, purH, purK, purL, purM, purN and purT were the hub genes for the FQs resistance. ‘de novo’ IMP biosynthetic process, purine ribonucleoside monophosphate biosynthetic process and purine ribonucleotide biosynthetic process were the top three biological processes screened by MCODE. This study first described the dynamics of FQ resistance evolution in Salmonella under a long-term selection of sub-MICs of ENR in vitro . In addition, this work offers greater insight into the transcriptome changes of S . Enteritidis under the selection of ENR and provides a framework for FQs resistance of Salmonella for further studies.