Differential roles of antimicrobials in the acquisition of drug resistance through activation of the SOS response in Acinetobacter baumannii.

The effect of antimicrobials on SOS-mediated mutagenesis induction depends on the bacterial species and the antimicrobial group. In this work, we studied the effect of different families of antimicrobial agents used in clinical therapy against Acinetobacter baumannii in the induction of mutagenesis in this multiresistant Gram-negative pathogen. The data showed that ciprofloxacin and tetracycline induce SOS-mediated mutagenesis, whereas colistin and meropenem, which are extensively used in clinical therapy, do not.