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Testing the Role of Multicopy Plasmids in the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance
Published on: May 2, 2018
Ancient Resistome
Abiola Olumuyiwa Olaitan1, Jean-Marc Rolain1
1Aix Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), UMR CNRS 7278, IRD 198, INSERM 1095, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France.
Abstract:
Antibiotic resistance is an ancient biological mechanism in bacteria, although its proliferation in our contemporary world has been amplified through antimicrobial therapy. Recent studies conducted on ancient environmental and human samples have uncovered numerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes. The resistance genes that have been reported from the analysis of ancient bacterial DNA include genes coding for several classes of antibiotics, such as glycopeptides, β-lactams, tetracyclines, and macrolides. The investigation of the resistome of ancient bacteria is a recent and emerging field of research, and technological advancements such as next-generation sequencing will further contribute to its growth. It is hoped that the knowledge gained from this research will help us to better understand the evolution of antibiotic resistance genes and will also be used in drug design as a proactive measure against antibiotic resistance.
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