文摘
Campylobacter jejuni, an important foodborne microorganism, poses severe and emergent threats to human health as antibiotic resistance becomes increasingly prevalent. The mechanisms of drug resistance are hard to decipher, and little is known at the metabolic level. Here we apply metabolomic profiling to discover metabolic changes associated with amphenicol (chloramphenicol and florfenicol) resistance mutations of Campylobacter jejuni. An optimized sample preparation method was combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography鈥搕ime-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC鈥揟OF/MS) and pattern recognition for the analysis of small-molecule biomarkers of drug resistance. UHPLC鈥搕riple quadrupole MS operated in multiple reaction monitoring mode was used for quantitative analysis of metabolic features from UHPLC鈥揟OF/MS profiling. Up to 41 differential metabolites involved in glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and fatty acid metabolism were observed in a chloramphenicol-resistant mutant strain of Campylobacter jejuni. A panel of 40 features was identified in florfenicol-resistant mutants, demonstrating changes in glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and tryptophan metabolism. This study shows that the UHPLC鈥揗S-based metabolomics platform is a promising and valuable tool to generate new insights into the drug-resistant mechanism of Campylobacter jejuni.