A Metabolic Mediator Gene “CanB” The Reason for Gain of Antibiotic Resistance in Neisseria gonorroheae

Abstract

In this review paper I will be discussing the results of Daniel H.F. Rubin et al., in relation to the study on gain of function of antibiotic resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. (gonorrhea) First and foremost the discoveries his group has made are important because of the resistance that N. gonorrhoeae has to most front line antibiotics. Finding the cause of the infection gaining the resistance could be the first step in finding a way to remove the resistance. His team found that the differences in N. gonorrhoeae strains and it’s strength against antibiotics, could be appointed to a metabolic mediator gene ngo2079 which the team named canB (b-carbonic anhydrase). This naming is due to it being a parallel to the can gene in Escherichia coli. Working with two variants of the CanB gene: CanB^19E and CanB^19G. They found that the 19E variant is necessary and sufficient for growth in absence of CO2, whereas the 19G variant confers CO2 dependency. And through their testing the team found that 19G isolates were more likely to have resistance to ciprofloxacins. With those two varying strains the team concluded that these differences in metabolic mediation are the reason for the gain of antibiotic resistance to fluoroquinolones.