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beta-Lactamases: protein evolution in real time
J Petrosino1, C Cantu, T Palzkill
1Dept of Microbiology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Trends in Microbiology
|September 25, 1998
Abstract:
The evolution and spread of bacteria resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics has progressed at an alarming rate. Bacteria may acquire resistance to a given drug by mutation of pre-existing genes or by the acquisition of new genes from other bacteria. One ongoing example of these mechanisms is the evolution of new variants of the TEM and SHV beta-lactamases with altered substrate specificity.