Question

Bacteria and bacteriophages are undergoing an evolutionary battle. In particular, phages that infect Salmonella enterica can use outer membrane proteins, such as OmpF or TolC, for drug efflux or to attach to the bacterial surface. What would be the impact of a significant mutation of these phage proteins

Answer 1

The impact on the loss in the activity of the OmpF proteins could alter the permeability of certain drugs thus avoiding the antibacterial effect. And a change or alteration in the ToIC protein could alter the transport capacity of certain harmful substances, thereby achieving hostile environmental conditions.

Step-by-step explanation:

A modification in the OmpF porins would primarily affect the antibiotic drug line, including carbapenems and cephalosporins. A loss in the activity of the OmpF porins would favor resistance to antibiotics and to the change in the transport of molecules allowing the activation of expulsion pumps, resulting in the aforementioned resistance.

On the other hand, when the ToIC proteins are modified, a system that causes the antimicrobial drugs to be expelled would be activated, this system being known as exit pumps, however, this system does not transport some more hydrophobic beta-lactam beta or some aminoglycosides.