J Bacteriol Virol.  2012 Jun;42(2):87-100. 10.4167/jbv.2012.42.2.87.

Tracing the Variation in Physiological Response to Rifampicin Across the Microbial Spectrum

• Dey A
• Chatterji

• KMID: 1717680
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4167/jbv.2012.42.2.87

Abstract

Rifampicin is an acknowledged inhibitor of bacterial RNA polymerase. We observed that there exists a substantial variation in the basal-level tolerance to rifampicin across microbial species. A number of mechanisms have come to light which depict the molecular aspects of the behavior of an individual bacterial cell towards rifampicin. This review assesses the current knowledge about rifampicin and conjectures about the probable aspects of rifampicin which remain unexplored.

Keyword

RNA polymerase; Rifampicin; Antibiotic resistance

MeSH Terms

DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases
Drug Resistance, Microbial
Light
Rifampin
RNA, Bacterial
DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases
RNA, Bacterial
Rifampin

Figure

• 

  Figure 1 Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of rifampicin for different microorganisms. (A) MIC of rifampicin for pathogenic species of microorganisms. (B) MIC of rifampicin for opportunistic pathogens among microorganisms. (C) MIC of rifampicin for microorganisms from soil. The lowest concentration of an antimicrobial that will inhibit the visible growth of a microorganism after overnight incubation is known as minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The methods adopted in determination of MICs for the species mentioned in the figures have been detailed in Thornsberry et al., 1983 (15), Perkins and Nicholson, 2008 (57), Heep et al., 2000 (58), and Tala et al., 2009 (24).

• 

  Figure 2 Distribution of MIC values of rifampicin across the microbial spectrum. The MIC values plotted with respect to the species. The species were classified based on NCBI taxonomy browser. The X-axis shows the sample species serial number. The values of MIC have been derived from Thornsberry et al., 1983 (15), Perkins and Nicholson, 2008 (57), Heep et al., 2000 (58), and Tala et al., 2009 (24). The serial numbers are shown below alongside the species name and MIC of rifampicin: 1. Streptococcus faecalis (8.0 µg/ml); 2. Streptococcus pyogenes (0.008 µg/ml); 3. Streptococcus pneumonia (4.0 µg/ml); 4. Listeria monocytogenes (0.25 µg/ml); 5. Bacillus subtilis (0.06 µg/ml); 6. Bacillis megaterium (5 µg/ml); 7. Staphylococcus aureus (0.015 µg/ml); 8. Staphylococcus epidermidis (0.015 µg/ml); 9. Neisseria meningitidis (0.5 µg/ml); 10. Neisseria gonorrhoeae (0.5 µg/ml); 11. Haemophilus influenza (1.0 µg/ml); 12. Serratia marcescens (64 µg/ml); 13. Morganella morganii (32 µg/ml); 14. Klebsiella pneumonia (32 µg/ml); 15. Escherichia coli K12 (16 µg/ml); 16. Enterobacter agglomerans (64 µg/ml); 17. Enterobacter cloacae (64 µg/ml); 18. Enterobacter aerogenes (64 µg/ml); 19. Citrobacter freundii (32 µg/ml); 20. Citrobacter diversus (32 µg/ml); 21. Proteus mirabilis (8 µg/ml); 22. Proteus vulgaris (32 µg/ml); 23. Providencia rettgeri (32 µg/ml); 24. Providencia stuartii (16 µg/ml); 25. Legionella micdadei (0.026 µg/ml); 26. Legionella pneumophila (0.027 µg/ml); 27. Legionella dumoffii (0.06 µg/ml); 28. Legionella bozemanii (0.038 µg/ml); 29. Legionella gormanii (0.03 µg/ml); 30. Legionella longbeachae (0.25 µg/ml); 31. Legionella jordanis (0.03 µg/ml); 32. Legionella oakridgensis (0.12 µg/ml); 33. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (64 µg/ml); 34. Helicobacter pylori (2 µg/ml); 35. Kribbella aluminosa (300 µg/ml); 36. Sphaerisporangium viridialbum (200 µg/ml); 37. Nonomurea rubescens (200 µg/ml); 38. Nocardia asiatica (300 µg/ml); 39. Nonomurea terrinata (300 µg/ml); 40. Nonomurea helvata (200 µg/ml); 41. Amycolatopsis kentuckyensis (300 µg/ml); 42. Amycolatopsis mediterranei (200 µg/ml); 43. Streptomyces spectabilis (200 µg/ml); 44. Streptomyces lydicus (25 µg/ml); 45. Streptomyces coelicolor (10 µg/ml); 46. Streptomyces albogriseolus (300 µg/ml); 47. Streptomyces vinaceus (300 µg/ml); 48. Nocardia farcinica (16 µg/ml); 49. Nocardia niigatensis (200 µg/ml); 50. Nocardia asiatica (300 µg/ml); 51. Mycobacterium smegmatis (20 µg/ml); 52. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (0.39 µg/ml); 53. Mycobacterium chelonei (64 µg/ml); 54. Mycobacterium fortuitum (64 µg/ml); 55. Mycobacterium aurum (2 µg/ml); 56. Mycobacterium kansasii (1 µg/ml); 57. Micrococcus luteus (1 µg/ml).

• 

  Figure 3 Schematic representation of all the proteins associated with RNA polymerase at the stationary phase classified according to obligate and plausible additional functions.

• 

  Figure 4 Probable mechanisms of evolution of a rifampicin resistant cell. When the rifampicin-sensitive (RifS) mycobacterial cell is exposed to rifampicin, it leads to the inhibition of transcription activity from a majority of RNAP molecules. However, a small population of RNAP molecules gets rescued by MsRbpA. This permits the synthesis of proteins that create a mutant form of rifampicin-resistant (RifR) RNAP for a RifR daughter cell.

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