HflXr, a homolog of a ribosome-splitting factor, mediates antibiotic resistance

Antibiotics have been widely used to treat bacterial infections and are also found in the environment. Bacteria have evolved various resistance mechanisms, allowing them to overcome antibiotic exposure and raising important health issues. Here, we report a bacterial antibiotic resistance mechanism, based on ribosome splitting and recycling, ensuring efficient translation even in presence of lincomycin and erythromycin, two antibiotics that block protein synthesis. This mechanism is mediated by a HflX-like protein, encoded by lmo0762 in Listeria monocytogenes, whose expression is tightly regulated by a transcriptional attenuation mechanism. This gene increases bacterial fitness in the environment. Our results raise the possibility that other antibiotic-induced resistance mechanisms remain to be discovered.