Thymol tolerance in Escherichia coli induces morphological, metabolic and genetic changes

Background: Thymol is a phenolic compound used for its wide spectrum antimicrobial activity. There is a limited understanding of the antimicrobial mechanisms underlying thymol activity. To investigate this, E. coli strain JM109 was exposed to thymol at sub-lethal concentrations and after 16 rounds of exposure, isolates with a 2-fold increased minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) were recovered (JM109-Thy(r)). The phenotype was stable after multiple sub-cultures without thymol. Results: Cell morphology studies by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) suggest that thymol renders bacterial cell membranes permeable and disrupts cellular integrity. H-1 Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data showed an increase in lactate and the lactic acid family amino acids in the wild type and JM109-Thy(r) in the presence of thymol, indicating a shift from aerobic respiration to fermentation. Sequencing of JM109-Thy(r) defined multiple mutations including a stop mutation in the acrR gene resulting in a truncation of the repressor of the AcrAB efflux pump. AcrAB is a multiprotein complex traversing the cytoplasmic and outer membrane, and is involved in antibiotic clearance. Conclusions: Our data suggests that thymol tolerance in E. coli induces morphological, metabolic and genetic changes to adapt to thymol antimicrobial activity.