Journal
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS
Volume 41, Issue 3, Pages 343-353Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fux006
Keywords
toxin-antitoxins; addictive systems; antimicrobial resistance; persistence
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Funding
- CSC scholarship
- HEFC
- MRC grant DETER-XDR-CHINA [MR/P007295/1]
- MRC [MR/P007295/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Medical Research Council [MR/P007295/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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Toxin-antitoxin systems (TAs) are ubiquitous among bacteria and play a crucial role in the dissemination and evolution of antibiotic resistance, such as maintaining multi-resistant plasmids and inducing persistence formation. Generally, activities of the toxins are neutralised by their conjugate antitoxins. In contrast, antitoxins are more liable to degrade under specific conditions such as stress, and free active toxins interfere with essential cellular processes including replication, translation and cell-wall synthesis. TAs have also been shown to be responsible for plasmid maintenance, stress management, bacterial persistence and biofilm formation. We discuss here the recent findings of these multifaceted TAs (type I-VI) and in particular examine the role of TAs in augmenting the dissemination and maintenance of multi-drug resistance in bacteria.
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