Overproduction of the MtrCDE efflux pump in Neisseria gonorrhoeae produces unexpected changes in cellular transcription patterns.

The global consequence of drug efflux gene overexpression in bacteria has not been specifically analyzed because strains showing high-level expression typically have mutations in genes encoding regulatory proteins that control other genes. Results from a transcriptional profiling study performed with a strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae that is capable of high-level transcription of the mtrCDE efflux pump operon independently of control by cognate regulatory proteins revealed that its overexpression has ramifications for systems other than drug efflux.