Lipid remodelling: does it play a role in antibiotic resistance?

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In the 21st century, antimicrobial resistance has become a serious threat to global public health. Resistant microbes are able to survive routine medical treatment, resulting in persistent infections. New resistance mechanisms are constantly emerging and it is vital to understand how these mechanisms work. In this project, the lipid membrane bilayer is under investigation, which is the first barrier of defence against antimicrobials. A possible mechanism of antimicrobial resistance is the remodelling of membrane lipids. Bacteria remodel their membrane lipid composition in response to changing environmental stimuli, such as nutrient availability. It is hypothesised that lipid remodelling could result in changes to antibiotic trafficking, possibly due to modifications in the protein composition. Opportunistic bacterial pathogens such as Pseudomonas spp. and members of the Burkholderia cepacia complex are highly resistant and contain the main phospholipase enzyme required for lipid remodelling. Using these model organisms, the link between antimicrobial resistance and lipid remodelling will be investigated.