Molecular mechanism of plasmid-borne resistance to sulfonamide antibiotics

The sulfonamides (sulfas) are the oldest class of antibacterial drugs and inhibit the bacterial dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS, encoded by folP ), through chemical mimicry of its co-substrate p -aminobenzoic acid ( p ABA). Resistance to sulfa drugs is mediated either by mutations in folP or acquisition of sul genes, which code for sulfa-insensitive, divergent DHPS enzymes. While the molecular basis of resistance through folP mutations is well understood, the mechanisms mediating sul -based resistance have not been investigated in detail. Here, we determine crystal structures of the most common Sul enzyme types (Sul1, Sul2 and Sul3) in multiple ligand-bound states, revealing a substantial reorganization of their p ABA-interaction region relative to the corresponding region of DHPS. We use biochemical and biophysical assays, mutational analysis, and in trans complementation of E. coli Δ folP to show that a Phe-Gly sequence enables the Sul enzymes to discriminate against sulfas while retaining p ABA binding and is necessary for broad resistance to sulfonamides. Experimental evolution of E. coli results in a strain harboring a sulfa-resistant DHPS variant that carries a Phe-Gly insertion in its active site, recapitulating this molecular mechanism. We also show that Sul enzymes possess increased active site conformational dynamics relative to DHPS, which could contribute to substrate discrimination. Our results reveal the molecular foundation for Sul-mediated drug resistance and facilitate the potential development of new sulfas less prone to resistance. Bacterial resistance to sulfonamide antibiotics (sulfas) is mediated by acquisition of sul genes, which encode sulfa-insensitive versions of the target enzyme, dihydropteroate synthase. Here, Venkatesan et al. study Sul enzymes using biochemical, structural, mutational and functional analyses, revealing the molecular basis for Sul-mediated drug resistance.