Mechanisms and physiological effects of protamine resistance in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2

Results: Protamine-resistant mutants appeared at a rate of 2.3� 10 27 /cell/generation. These mutants were 2 ‐20 times more resistant to protamine than the parental strain and less susceptible to several other antimicrobials, including colistin, gentamicin, lactoferricin and human defensin HNP-1. The resistance mutations were mapped to genes involved in haem biosynthesis and respiration, and were associated with a reduction in bacterial fitness. Some mutants could, in the absence of protamine, be evolved to higher fitness by acquiring second-site compensatory mutations. Conclusions: Spontaneous mutants resistant to protamine sulphate were readily selected in Salmonella Typhimurium LT2. These mutants were less susceptible to several other peptides and antibiotics, and had the characteristics of small colony variants, a phenotype often associated with persistent and recurrent infections that are difficult to treat and which could be a strategy for bacteria to escape the killing effects of antimicrobial peptides.