ABSTRACT
The high intrinsic penem resistance of
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
is due to the interplay among the outer membrane barrier, the active efflux system MexAB-OprM, and AmpC β-lactamase. We studied the roles of two other efflux systems, MexCD-OprJ and MexXY-OprM, in penem resistance by overexpressing each system in an AmpC- and MexAB-OprM-deficient background and found that MexAB-OprM is the most important among the three efflux systems for extrusion of penems from the cell interior.