Objective: Resistance of disease-causing bacteria to antibiotics is a significant public health problem. Besides the fact that the mechanism of action of many common antibiotics is still not fully understood, our knowledge about the short and long-term effects of exposure to antibiotics on bacteria is also limited. We aimed to evaluate the impact of imipenem on Escherichia coli at certain time intervals comparatively, in the present study.

Methods: Non-lethal doses of imipenem were simultaneously applied to E. coli cultures. The cellular effects caused by imipenem in cultures sampled at different time intervals were examined by RNA sequencing.

Results: Statistically significant changes were observed in the expression of genes encoding proteins located in the cell membrane or proteins involved in the transportation of these proteins (yajC, IdcA, lolA, ldtC, ygdI) and genes that are directly related to efflux pumps (ydhE).

Conclusion: This study compared the short and long-term effects of low doses of antibiotics on the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria by analyzing gene expression profiles.