Genes that confer antibiotic resistance can rapidly be disseminated from one microorganism to another by mobile genetic elements, thus transferring resistance to previously susceptible bacterial strains. The misuse of antibiotics in health care and agriculture has provided a powerful evolutionary pressure to accelerate the spread of resistance genes, including those encoding β-lactamases. These are enzymes that are highly efficient in inactivating most of the commonly used β-lactam antibiotics. However, genes that confer antibiotic resistance are not only associated with pathogenic microorganisms, but are also found in non-pathogenic (i.e. environmental) microorganisms. Two recent examples are metal-dependent β-lactamases (MBLs) from the marine organisms
- Award ID(s):
- 1759831
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10354250
- Editor(s):
- Marshall, Christopher W.
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- mSystems
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 2379-5077
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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