Expression of the marA, soxS, acrB and ramA genes related to the AcrAB/TolC efflux pump in Salmonella enterica strains with and without quinolone resistance-determining regions gyrA gene mutations

AbstractSeveral studies have been conducted in recent years to elucidate the structure, function and significance of AcrB, MarA, SoxS and RamA in Salmonella enterica. In this study, the relative quantification of acrB, soxS, marA and ramA genes expression was evaluated in 14 strains of S. enterica, with or without accompanying mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining regions of the gyrA gene, that were exposed to ciprofloxacin during the exponential growth phase. The presence of ciprofloxacin during the log phase of bacterial growth activated the genes marA, soxS, ramA and acrB in all S. enterica strains analyzed in this study. The highest expression levels for acrB were observed in strains with gyrA mutation, and marA showed the highest expression in the strains without mutation. Considering only the strains with ciprofloxacin minimum inhibitory concentration values