Mycobacterium abscessus WhiB7 Regulates a Species-Specific Repertoire of Genes To Confer Extreme Antibiotic Resistance

Mycobacterium abscessus causes acute and chronic bronchopulmonary infection in patients with chronic lung damage, of which cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are particularly vulnerable. The major threat posed by this organism is its high intrinsic antibiotic resistance. A typical treatment regimen involves a 6- to 12-month-long combination therapy of clarithromycin and amikacin, with cure rates below 50% and multiple side effects, especially due to amikacin. In the present work, we show that M. abscessus whiB7, a homologue of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium smegmatis whiB7 with previously demonstrated effects on intrinsic antibiotic resistance, is strongly induced when exposed to clinically relevant antibiotics that target the ribosome: erythromycin, clarithromycin, amikacin, tetracycline, and spectinomycin. The deletion of M. abscessus whiB7 results in sensitivity to all of the above-mentioned antibiotics. Further, we have defined and compared the whiB7 regulon of M. abscessus with the closely related nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) M. smegmatis to demonstrate the induction of a species-specific repertoire of genes. Finally, we show that one such gene, eis2, is specifically induced in M. abscessus by whiB7 and contributes to its higher levels of intrinsic amikacin resistance. This species-specific pattern of gene induction might account for the differences in drug susceptibilities to other antibiotics and between different mycobacterial species.