REVIEW: rRNA Methylation and Antibiotic Resistance

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I. A. Osterman^1,2, O. A. Dontsova^1,2,3, and P. V. Sergiev^1,2,4,a*

¹Center of Life Sciences, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, 143028 Skolkovo, Russia

²Faculty of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia

³Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia

⁴Institute of Functional Genomics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received June 12, 2020; Revised July 16, 2020; Accepted July 16, 2020

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Methylation of nucleotides in rRNA is one of the basic mechanisms of bacterial resistance to protein synthesis inhibitors. The genes for corresponding methyltransferases have been found in producer strains and clinical isolates of pathogenic bacteria. In some cases, rRNA methylation by housekeeping enzymes is, on the contrary, required for the action of antibiotics. The effects of rRNA modifications associated with antibiotic efficacy may be cooperative or mutually exclusive. Evolutionary relationships between the systems of rRNA modification by housekeeping enzymes and antibiotic resistance-related methyltransferases are of particular interest. In this review, we discuss the above topics in detail.

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KEY WORDS: ribosome, methylation, antibiotics, macrolides, aminoglycosides

DOI: 10.1134/S000629792011005X

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