Genome-Wide Screening of Oxidizing Agent Resistance Genes in <i>Escherichia coli</i>

• Main Authors: Hao Chen, Jessica Wilson, Carson Ercanbrack, Hannah Smith, Qinglei Gan, Chenguang Fan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Antioxidants
• Subjects: oxidative stress; hydrogen peroxide; hypochlorite; genome-wide screening; AKSA library
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/10/6/861

The use of oxidizing agents is one of the most favorable approaches to kill bacteria in daily life. However, bacteria have been evolving to survive in the presence of different oxidizing agents. In this study, we aimed to obtain a comprehensive list of genes whose expression can make <i>Escherichia</i><i>coli</i> cells resistant to different oxidizing agents. For this purpose, we utilized the ASKA library and performed a genome-wide screening of ~4200 <i>E. coli</i> genes. Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and hypochlorite (HOCl) were tested as representative oxidizing agents in this study. To further validate our screening results, we used different <i>E. coli</i> strains as host cells to express or inactivate selected resistance genes individually. More than 100 genes obtained in this screening were not known to associate with oxidative stress responses before. Thus, this study is expected to facilitate both basic studies on oxidative stress and the development of antibacterial agents.