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Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance in Microbial Ecosystems through Horizontal Gene Transfer

The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria has been a rising problem for public health in recent decades. It is becoming increasingly recognized that not only antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) encountered in clinical pathogens are of relevance, but rather, all patho...

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Autores principales: von Wintersdorff, Christian J. H., Penders, John, van Niekerk, Julius M., Mills, Nathan D., Majumder, Snehali, van Alphen, Lieke B., Savelkoul, Paul H. M., Wolffs, Petra F. G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4759269/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26925045
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00173
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author von Wintersdorff, Christian J. H.
Penders, John
van Niekerk, Julius M.
Mills, Nathan D.
Majumder, Snehali
van Alphen, Lieke B.
Savelkoul, Paul H. M.
Wolffs, Petra F. G.
author_facet von Wintersdorff, Christian J. H.
Penders, John
van Niekerk, Julius M.
Mills, Nathan D.
Majumder, Snehali
van Alphen, Lieke B.
Savelkoul, Paul H. M.
Wolffs, Petra F. G.
author_sort von Wintersdorff, Christian J. H.
collection PubMed
description The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria has been a rising problem for public health in recent decades. It is becoming increasingly recognized that not only antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) encountered in clinical pathogens are of relevance, but rather, all pathogenic, commensal as well as environmental bacteria—and also mobile genetic elements and bacteriophages—form a reservoir of ARGs (the resistome) from which pathogenic bacteria can acquire resistance via horizontal gene transfer (HGT). HGT has caused antibiotic resistance to spread from commensal and environmental species to pathogenic ones, as has been shown for some clinically important ARGs. Of the three canonical mechanisms of HGT, conjugation is thought to have the greatest influence on the dissemination of ARGs. While transformation and transduction are deemed less important, recent discoveries suggest their role may be larger than previously thought. Understanding the extent of the resistome and how its mobilization to pathogenic bacteria takes place is essential for efforts to control the dissemination of these genes. Here, we will discuss the concept of the resistome, provide examples of HGT of clinically relevant ARGs and present an overview of the current knowledge of the contributions the various HGT mechanisms make to the spread of antibiotic resistance.
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spelling pubmed-47592692016-02-26 Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance in Microbial Ecosystems through Horizontal Gene Transfer von Wintersdorff, Christian J. H. Penders, John van Niekerk, Julius M. Mills, Nathan D. Majumder, Snehali van Alphen, Lieke B. Savelkoul, Paul H. M. Wolffs, Petra F. G. Front Microbiol Microbiology The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria has been a rising problem for public health in recent decades. It is becoming increasingly recognized that not only antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) encountered in clinical pathogens are of relevance, but rather, all pathogenic, commensal as well as environmental bacteria—and also mobile genetic elements and bacteriophages—form a reservoir of ARGs (the resistome) from which pathogenic bacteria can acquire resistance via horizontal gene transfer (HGT). HGT has caused antibiotic resistance to spread from commensal and environmental species to pathogenic ones, as has been shown for some clinically important ARGs. Of the three canonical mechanisms of HGT, conjugation is thought to have the greatest influence on the dissemination of ARGs. While transformation and transduction are deemed less important, recent discoveries suggest their role may be larger than previously thought. Understanding the extent of the resistome and how its mobilization to pathogenic bacteria takes place is essential for efforts to control the dissemination of these genes. Here, we will discuss the concept of the resistome, provide examples of HGT of clinically relevant ARGs and present an overview of the current knowledge of the contributions the various HGT mechanisms make to the spread of antibiotic resistance. Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-02-19 /pmc/articles/PMC4759269/ /pubmed/26925045 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00173 Text en Copyright © 2016 von Wintersdorff, Penders, van Niekerk, Mills, Majumder, van Alphen, Savelkoul and Wolffs. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Microbiology
von Wintersdorff, Christian J. H.
Penders, John
van Niekerk, Julius M.
Mills, Nathan D.
Majumder, Snehali
van Alphen, Lieke B.
Savelkoul, Paul H. M.
Wolffs, Petra F. G.
Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance in Microbial Ecosystems through Horizontal Gene Transfer
title Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance in Microbial Ecosystems through Horizontal Gene Transfer
title_full Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance in Microbial Ecosystems through Horizontal Gene Transfer
title_fullStr Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance in Microbial Ecosystems through Horizontal Gene Transfer
title_full_unstemmed Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance in Microbial Ecosystems through Horizontal Gene Transfer
title_short Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance in Microbial Ecosystems through Horizontal Gene Transfer
title_sort dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in microbial ecosystems through horizontal gene transfer
topic Microbiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4759269/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26925045
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00173
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