Mutagenesis of 16 S rRNA C1409-G1491 Base-pair Differentiates Between 6′OH and 6′NH3+ Aminoglycosides Original Research Article

Using a single rRNA allelic Gram-positive model system, we systematically mutagenized 16 S rRNA positions 1409 and 1491 to probe the functional relevance of structural interactions between aminoglycoside antibiotics and the A-site rRNA that were suggested by X-ray crystallography. At the structural level, the interaction of the 2-deoxystreptamine aminoglycosides with the rRNA base-pair C1409-G1491 has been suggested to involve the following features: (i) ring I of the disubstituted 2-deoxystreptamines stacks upon G1491 and H-bonds to the Watson–Crick edge of A1408; (ii) ring III of the 4,5-disubstituted aminoglycosides shows hydrogen bonding to G1491. However, we found that mutants with altered 16 S rRNA bases 1409 and 1491 discriminated poorly between 4,5-disubstituted and 4,6-disubstituted 2-deoxystreptamines, but differentially affected aminoglycosides with a hydroxyl group versus an ammonium group at position 6′ of ring I, e.g. G1491U conferred high-level drug resistance to paromomycin and geneticin, but not to neomycin, tobramycin or gentamicin.