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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Quantification of Plasmid-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in an Experimental Evolution Approach
Published on: December 14, 2019
[Evolutionary engineering in Salmonella: emergence of hybrid virulence-resistance plasmids in non-typhoid serotypes]
María Del Carmen Mendoza1, Ana Herrero, María Rosario Rodicio
1Departamento de Biología Funcional, Area de Microbiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, España. cmendoza@uniovi.es
Abstract:
An example of evolutive engineering in bacterial pathogens is the emergence of hybrid virulence-resistance (VR) plasmids in Salmonella enterica, resulting from an association between antimicrobial resistance determinants and specific virulence plasmids of the S. typhimurium and S. choleraesuis serotypes. VR plasmids all possess the spv (Salmonella plasmid virulence) operon, which is involved in systemic infection; however, they differ in the presence of other virulence determinants and in the resistance gene profile. VR plasmids of S. typhimurium have been found in Europe, and show resistance regions with different levels of complexity that can include class 1 integrons and various transposons. VR plasmids of S. choleraesuis, detected in strains isolated in Taiwan, only confer resistance to ampicillin and sulfonamides. Both serotypes are zoonotic and the presence of hybrid VR plasmids may confer an adaptive advantage under certain conditions, resulting in bacterial strains that are more difficult to treat and have a higher epidemic potential.
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