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Updated: Oct 7, 2025

Isolation and Identification of Waterborne Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and Molecular Characterization of their Antibiotic Resistance Genes
Published on: March 3, 2023
Silent Genes: Antimicrobial Resistance and Antibiotic Production
Monika Stasiak1, Elżbieta Maćkiw1, Joanna Kowalska1
1Department of Food Safety, National Institute of Public Health NIH - National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
Abstract:
Silent genes are DNA sequences that are generally not expressed or expressed at a very low level. These genes become active as a result of mutation, recombination, or insertion. Silent genes can also be activated in laboratory conditions using pleiotropic, targeted genome-wide, or biosynthetic gene cluster approaches. Like every other gene, silent genes can spread through horizontal gene transfer. Most studies have focused on strains with phenotypic resistance, which is the most common subject. However, to fully understand the mechanism behind the spreading of antibiotic resistance, it is reasonable to study the whole resistome, including silent genes.
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