Figure 8.
Co-production of antibiotic (black) and adjuvant (blue) to overcome resistance during microbial competition. (a) Transcription of the beta-lactam “super” BGC in S. clavuligerus results in co-production of cephamycin C and clavulanic acid, a beta-lactam antibiotic/beta-lactamase inhibitor combination that rescues beta-lactam antibacterial activity against competing microbes expressing beta-lactamase resistance enzymes. (b) Similarly, co-production of anhydrotetracycline (aTC), a tetracycline destructase inhibitor, and tetracycline (TC), a ribosome inhibitor, might provide a competitive advantage against microbes expressing tetracycline destructase resistance enzymes.