Zitieren Sie bitte immer diesen URN: urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-653842
Consequences of benzalkonium chloride tolerance for selection dynamics and de novo resistance evolution driven by antibiotics
- Biocides are used in large amounts in industrial, medical, and domestic settings. Benzalkonium chloride (BAC) is a commonly used biocide, for which previous research revealed that Escherichia coli can rapidly adapt to tolerate BAC-disinfection, with consequences for antibiotic susceptibility. However, the consequences of BAC tolerance for selection dynamics and resistance evolution to antibiotics remain unknown. Here, we investigated the effect of BAC tolerance in E. coli on its response upon challenge with different antibiotics. Competition assays showed that subinhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin—but not ampicillin, colistin and gentamicin—select for the BAC-tolerant strain over the BAC-sensitive ancestor at a minimal selective concentration of 0.0013–0.0022 µg/mL. In contrast, the BAC-sensitive ancestor was more likely to evolve resistance to ciprofloxacin, colistin and gentamicin than the BAC-tolerant strain when adapted to higher concentrations of antibiotics in a serialBiocides are used in large amounts in industrial, medical, and domestic settings. Benzalkonium chloride (BAC) is a commonly used biocide, for which previous research revealed that Escherichia coli can rapidly adapt to tolerate BAC-disinfection, with consequences for antibiotic susceptibility. However, the consequences of BAC tolerance for selection dynamics and resistance evolution to antibiotics remain unknown. Here, we investigated the effect of BAC tolerance in E. coli on its response upon challenge with different antibiotics. Competition assays showed that subinhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin—but not ampicillin, colistin and gentamicin—select for the BAC-tolerant strain over the BAC-sensitive ancestor at a minimal selective concentration of 0.0013–0.0022 µg/mL. In contrast, the BAC-sensitive ancestor was more likely to evolve resistance to ciprofloxacin, colistin and gentamicin than the BAC-tolerant strain when adapted to higher concentrations of antibiotics in a serial transfer laboratory evolution experiment. The observed difference in the evolvability of resistance to ciprofloxacin was partly explained by an epistatic interaction between the mutations conferring BAC tolerance and a knockout mutation in ompF encoding for the outer membrane porin F. Taken together, these findings suggest that BAC tolerance can be stabilized in environments containing low concentrations of ciprofloxacin, while it also constrains evolutionary pathways towards antibiotic resistance.…


| Autor*innen: | Orestis Kanaris, Lydia-Yasmin Sobisch, Annett Gödt, Frank SchreiberORCiD, Niclas Nordholt |
|---|---|
| Dokumenttyp: | Zeitschriftenartikel |
| Veröffentlichungsform: | Verlagsliteratur |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Titel des übergeordneten Werkes (Englisch): | npj Antimicrobials and Resistance |
| Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2026 |
| Organisationseinheit der BAM: | 4 Material und Umwelt |
| 4 Material und Umwelt / 4.1 Biologische Materialschädigung und Referenzorganismen | |
| Veröffentlichende Institution: | Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) |
| Verlag: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| Jahrgang/Band: | 4 |
| Ausgabe/Heft: | 1 |
| Aufsatznummer: | 2 |
| Erste Seite: | 1 |
| Letzte Seite: | 13 |
| DDC-Klassifikation: | Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften / Sanitär- und Kommunaltechnik; Umwelttechnik |
| Freie Schlagwörter: | AMR; Resistance evolution; Resistance selection |
| Themenfelder/Aktivitätsfelder der BAM: | Umwelt |
| Umwelt / Umwelt-Material-Interaktionen | |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s44259-025-00170-8 |
| URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-653842 |
| ISSN: | 2731-8745 |
| Verfügbarkeit des Dokuments: | Datei für die Öffentlichkeit verfügbar ("Open Access") |
| Lizenz (Deutsch): | Creative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |
| Datum der Freischaltung: | 21.01.2026 |
| Referierte Publikation: | Ja |
| Datum der Eintragung als referierte Publikation: | 21.01.2026 |
| Schriftenreihen ohne Nummerierung: | Wissenschaftliche Artikel der BAM |


