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Updated: Oct 15, 2025

Quantification of Plasmid-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in an Experimental Evolution Approach
Published on: December 14, 2019
Antimicrobial resistance acquisition via natural transformation: context is everything
Macaulay Winter1, Angus Buckling2, Klaus Harms3
1European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Environment and Sustainability Institute, Penryn Campus, TR10 9FE, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Natural transformation is a process where bacterial cells actively take up free DNA from the environment and recombine it into their genome or reconvert it into extra-chromosomal genetic elements. Although this mechanism is known to mediate the uptake of antibiotic resistance determinants in a range of human pathogens, its importance in the spread of antimicrobial resistance is not always appreciated. This review highlights the context in which transformation takes place: in diverse microbiomes, in interaction with other forms of horizontal gene transfer and in increasingly polluted environments. This examination of the abiotic and biotic drivers of transformation reveals that it could be more important in the dissemination of resistance genes than is often recognised.
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