Frequency, Spectrum, and Nonzero Fitness Costs of Resistance to Myxopyronin in Staphylococcus aureus

The antibiotic myxopyronin (Myx) functions by inhibiting bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP). The binding site on RNAP for Myx—the RNAP “switch region SW1/SW2 subregion”—is different from the binding site on RNAP for the RNAP inhibitor currently used in broad-spectrum antibacterial therapy, rifampin (Rif). Here, we report the frequency, spectrum, and fitness costs of Myx resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. The resistance rate for Myx is 4 × 10−8 to 7 × 10−8 per generation, which is equal within error to the resistance rate for Rif (3 × 10−8 to 10 × 10−8 per generation). Substitutions conferring Myx resistance were obtained in the RNAP β subunit [six substitutions: V1080(1275)I, V1080(1275)L, E1084(1279)K, D1101(1296)E, S1127(1322)L, and S1127(1322)P] and the RNAP β′ subunit [five substitutions: K334(345)N, T925(917)K, T925(917)R, G1172(1354)C, and G1172(1354)D] (residues numbered as in Staphylococcus aureus RNAP and, in parentheses, as in Escherichia coli RNAP). Sites of substitutions conferring Myx resistance map to the RNAP switch region SW1/SW2 subregion and do not overlap the binding site on RNAP for Rif, and, correspondingly, Myx-resistant mutants exhibit no cross-resistance to Rif. All substitutions conferring Myx resistance exhibit significant fitness costs (4 to 15% per generation). In contrast, at least three substitutions conferring Rif resistance exhibit no fitness costs (≤0% per generation). The observation that all Myx-resistant mutants have significant fitness costs whereas at least three Rif-resistant mutants have no fitness costs, together with the previously established inverse correlation between fitness cost and clinical prevalence, suggests that Myx resistance is likely to have lower clinical prevalence than Rif resistance.