Peptidoglycan remodeling prevents antibiotic resistance during oxidative stress.

OxyS-linked repression of mepS in Escherichia coli limits the emergence of polymyxin B and colistin resistance during H2O2-induced oxidative stress.

• Why it matters: Oxidative stress can promote antibiotic resistance, but how ROS and intracellular iron connect to specific bacterial targets is unclear.
• What they did: Using MS2 affinity purification with RNA sequencing (MAPS), the study identified mepS as an OxyS-enriched mRNA target and tested resistance emergence in an ΔoxyS background with mepS present or absent.
• The result: ΔoxyS facilitated resistance emergence to polymyxin B and colistin only when mepS was present, while thiourea addition or iron sequestration reduced resistance emergence, implicating ROS plus intracellular iron and cell wall remodeling.

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