Issue 9, 2023

Eliminated colistin-resistance dissemination by a carbon nanotube-mediated CRISPR/Cas9 system – a combined effect of curing plasmid and conjugation blocking

Abstract

The spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) has become a major public health problem. The recent global spread of colistin-resistance gene mcr-1 via conjugative plasmids threatens the utility of colistin as the ‘last-resort’ antibiotic against Gram-negative pathogens. Despite the fact that multiple CRISPR/Cas9 systems targeting mcr-1 have been proposed, their poor delivery efficiency constrains effective eradication of the colistin-resistance trait. Herein, we demonstrated an efficient CRISPR/Cas delivery into wild colistin-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) using modified single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Our results revealed that the SWCNT–CRISPR complex could not only cure colistin-resistance but also inhibit the conjugation of mcr-1 plasmids. The dual function is mainly attributed to i) targeted mcr-1 cleaving activity by importing CRISPR/Cas9 systems; ii) the shortage of ATP supply for conjugation due to a disordered electron transfer chain by conductive SWCNTs. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of utilizing SWCNTs to facilitate CRISPR-based resistance eradication, opening up new possibilities for combating environmental antibiotic resistance with nanotechnology.

Graphical abstract: Eliminated colistin-resistance dissemination by a carbon nanotube-mediated CRISPR/Cas9 system – a combined effect of curing plasmid and conjugation blocking

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Mar 2023
Accepted
10 Jul 2023
First published
12 Jul 2023

Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2023,10, 2387-2398

Eliminated colistin-resistance dissemination by a carbon nanotube-mediated CRISPR/Cas9 system – a combined effect of curing plasmid and conjugation blocking

K. Yu, Z. Cheng, Y. Sun, H. Ren, H. Chen and Y. Xia, Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2023, 10, 2387 DOI: 10.1039/D3EN00145H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements