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Development of Antibiotic Resistance

Development of Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a major public health concern that arises when bacteria evolve mechanisms to withstand the effects of antibiotic treatments. This resistance can be intrinsic, acquired through genetic mutations, or transferred between bacteria via horizontal gene transfer. The development of antibiotic resistance poses significant challenges in treating bacterial infections and necessitates ongoing research to develop new therapeutic strategies.Intrinsic resistance occurs when bacterial...

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Antibiotic resistance in bacteria arises when microorganisms evolve the ability to withstand drugs designed to kill them or inhibit their growth, rendering once-effective treatments useless. This phenomenon, driven by genetic change and selection under antibiotic exposure, poses a profound threat to modern medicine. Mechanisms include drug-inactivating enzymes (e.g., β-lactamases), efflux pumps that eject antibiotics, mutations altering antibiotic targets, decreased drug uptake, and acquisition...

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Clinical Significance of Antibiotic Resistance

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Quadruple-Checkerboard: A Modification of the Three-Dimensional Checkerboard for Studying Drug Combinations

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Published on: July 24, 2021

Multidrug resistance in bacteria.

Hiroshi Nikaido¹

¹Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3202, USA. nhiroshi@berkeley.edu

Annual Review of Biochemistry

|February 24, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Widespread antibiotic use drives multidrug resistance in pathogenic bacteria. This occurs through gene accumulation on resistance plasmids or increased expression of efflux pumps, mechanisms detailed in this review.

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Testing the Role of Multicopy Plasmids in the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance

Testing the Role of Multicopy Plasmids in the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance

Published on: May 2, 2018

Area of Science:

Microbiology
Molecular Biology
Pharmacology

Background:

Extensive antibiotic application in human medicine, agriculture, and aquaculture has led to the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria.
Pathogenic bacteria accumulating resistance to multiple drugs pose a significant global health threat.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the molecular mechanisms underlying bacterial multidrug resistance.
To provide an overview of current knowledge on how bacteria develop resistance to various antibiotics.

Main Methods:

Literature review of scientific articles on bacterial resistance mechanisms.
Analysis of genetic and molecular pathways conferring multidrug resistance.

Main Results:

Multidrug resistance arises from two primary mechanisms: acquisition of multiple single-drug resistance genes, often via resistance (R) plasmids, and enhanced expression of multidrug efflux pumps.
Resistance (R) plasmids facilitate the accumulation of diverse resistance genes within a single bacterial cell.
Multidrug efflux pumps actively extrude a broad spectrum of antibiotics from bacterial cells.

Conclusions:

Understanding these molecular mechanisms is crucial for developing strategies to combat antibiotic resistance.
The review highlights the dual nature of MDR generation, emphasizing both genetic acquisition and functional protein-mediated resistance.