Can Drying Drive TB Drug Resistance?

Laboratory and genomic analyses link desiccation with rifampin resistance patterns

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Desiccation caused DNA damage in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, increasing the frequency of rifampin-resistant bacteria in laboratory tests.
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The study developed a filter-based system to simulate drying during aerosol formation, affecting bacterial genetic diversity.
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Desiccated bacteria showed rifampin-resistant colonies at a frequency 50 to 100 times higher than those maintained in saline.
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Silencing the mfd gene reduced rifampin resistance frequency and altered mutations in rpoB, impacting survival during drying.
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The study emphasizes the need to recognize multiple resistance-associated alleles and investigate genotype-phenotype discordance.

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