# | Rank | Similarity | Title + Abs. | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 9690 | 0 | 1.0000 | Distribution of horizontally transferred heavy metal resistance operons in recent outbreak bacteria. Mankind is confronted by the outbreaks of highly virulent and multi-drug resistant pathogens. The outbreak strains often belong to well-known diseases associated species such as Salmonella, Klebsiella and Mycobacterium, but even normally commensal and environmental microorganisms may suddenly acquire properties of virulent bacteria and cause nosocomial infections. The acquired virulence is often associated with lateral exchange of pathogenicity genomic islands containing drug and heavy metal resistance determinants. Metal ions are used by the immune system of macro-organisms against bactericidal agents. The ability to control heavy metal homeostasis is a factor that allows the survival of pathogenic microorganisms in macrophages. In this paper, we investigate the origin of heavy metal resistance operons in the recent outbreak strains and the possible routes which may lead to acquisitions of these genes by potentially new pathogens. We hypothesize that new outbreak microorganisms appear intermittently on an intersection of the non-specialized, genetically naïve strains of potential pathogens and virulence factor comprising vectors (plasmid and/or phages) newly generated in the environmental microflora. Global contamination of the environment and climate change may also have an effect toward the acceleration and appearance of new pathogens. | 2012 | 22934243 |
| 4267 | 1 | 0.9999 | Relationship between Virulence and Resistance among Gram-Negative Bacteria. Bacteria present in the human body are innocuous, providing beneficial functions, some of which are necessary for correct body function. However, other bacteria are able to colonize, invade, and cause damage to different tissues, and these are categorised as pathogens. These pathogenic bacteria possess several factors that enable them to be more virulent and cause infection. Bacteria have a great capacity to adapt to different niches and environmental conditions (presence of antibiotics, iron depletion, etc.). Antibiotic pressure has favoured the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria worldwide. Several studies have reported the presence of a relationship (both positive and negative, and both direct and indirect) between antimicrobial resistance and virulence among bacterial pathogens. This review studies the relationship among the most important Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) taking into account two points of view: (i) the effect the acquisition of resistance has on virulence, and (ii) co-selection of resistance and virulence. The relationship between resistance and virulence among bacteria depends on the bacterial species, the specific mechanisms of resistance and virulence, the ecological niche, and the host. | 2020 | 33092201 |
| 4239 | 2 | 0.9999 | Bacterial resistance. Pathogenic bacteria remain adaptable to an increasingly hostile environment and a wider variety of more potent antibiotics. Organisms not intrinsically prepared for defense have been able to acquire resistance to newer antimicrobial agents. Chromosomal mutations alone cannot account for the rapid emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. It has been established that plasmids and transposons are particularly important in the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Plasmid- or transposon-mediated resistance provides the bacteria with pre-evolved genes refined to express high-level resistance. In particular, transposons can transfer these resistance determinants in diverse bacterial species, and nature provides in humans and animals large intestinal reservoirs in which such communications are facilitated. Antibiotic therapy exerts selection pressures on bacteria. Eradication or marked reduction in the populations of susceptible organisms promotes the overgrowth of intrinsically resistant strains and favors those resistant as a result of favorable chromosomal mutations or via plasmids or transposons. In our hospitals, where antibiotic consumption continues to increase, the nosocomial flora consists of many resistant bacteria, and infections acquired in the nosocomial setting are now far more severe than their community-acquired counterparts. There is convincing evidence that infection control measures must take into further consideration the contribution of the hospital worker as carrier and mediator of antibiotic resistance. | 1991 | 1649425 |
| 4240 | 3 | 0.9999 | Genetics of antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistant strains of bacteria are an increasing threat to animal and human health. Resistance mechanisms to circumvent the toxic action of antimicrobials have been identified and described for all known antimicrobials currently available for clinical use in human and veterinary medicine. Acquired bacterial antibiotic resistance can result from the mutation of normal cellular genes, the acquisition of foreign resistance genes, or a combination of these two mechanisms. The most common resistance mechanisms employed by bacteria include enzymatic degradation or alteration of the antimicrobial, mutation in the antimicrobial target site, decreased cell wall permeability to antimicrobials, and active efflux of the antimicrobial across the cell membrane. The spread of mobile genetic elements such as plasmids, transposons, and integrons has greatly contributed to the rapid dissemination of antimicrobial resistance among several bacterial genera of human and veterinary importance. Antimicrobial resistance genes have been shown to accumulate on mobile elements, leading to a situation where multidrug resistance phenotypes can be transferred to a susceptible recipient via a single genetic event. The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistant bacterial pathogens has severe implications for the future treatment and prevention of infectious diseases in both animals and humans. The versatility with which bacteria adapt to their environment and exchange DNA between different genera highlights the need to implement effective antimicrobial stewardship and infection control programs in both human and veterinary medicine. | 2006 | 17127523 |
| 4255 | 4 | 0.9999 | Oral biofilms: a reservoir of transferable, bacterial, antimicrobial resistance. Oral microbes are responsible for dental caries and periodontal diseases and have also been implicated in a range of other diseases beyond the oral cavity. These bacteria live primarily as complex, polymicrobial biofilms commonly called dental plaque. Cells growing within a biofilm often exhibit altered phenotypes, such as increased antibiotic resistance. The stable structural properties and close proximity of the bacterial cells within the biofilm appears to be an excellent environment for horizontal gene transfer, which can lead to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes amongst the biofilm inhabitants. This article will present an overview of the different types and amount of resistance to antibiotics that have been found in the human oral microbiota and will discuss the oral inhabitants' role as a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes. In addition, data on the genetic support for these resistance genes will be detailed and the evidence for horizontal gene transfer reviewed, demonstrating that the bacteria inhabiting the oral cavity are a reservoir of transferable antibiotic resistance. | 2010 | 21133668 |
| 9696 | 5 | 0.9999 | Evolution of resistance in microorganisms of human origin. Resistance to antimicrobials in bacteria results from either evolution of "new" DNA or from variation in existing DNA. Evidence suggests that new DNA did not originate since the use of antibiotics in medicine, but evolved long ago in soil bacteria. This evidence is based on functional and structural homologies of resistance proteins in human pathogens, and resistance proteins or physiological proteins of soil bacteria. Variation in existing DNA has been shown to comprise variations in structural or regulatory genes of the normal chromosome or mutations in already existing plasmid-mediated resistance genes modifying the resistance phenotype. The success of R-determinants in human pathogens was due to their horizontal spread by transformation, transduction and conjugation. Furthermore, transposition has enabled bacteria to efficiently distribute R-determinants between independent DNA-molecules. Since the genetic processes involved in the development of resistance are rare events, the selective pressure exerted by antibiotics has significantly contributed to the overall evolutionary picture. With few exceptions, experimental data about the role of antibiotic usage outside human medicine with respect to the resistance problem in human pathogens are missing. Epidemiological data about the occurrence of resistance in human pathogens seem to indicate that the major contributing factor to the problem we face today was the extensive use of antibiotics in medicine itself. | 1993 | 8212510 |
| 4171 | 6 | 0.9999 | Plasmids as Key Players in Acinetobacter Adaptation. This review briefly summarizes the data on the mechanisms of development of the adaptability of Acinetobacters to various living conditions in the environment and in the clinic. A comparative analysis of the genomes of free-living and clinical strains of A. lwoffii, as well as the genomes of A. lwoffii and A. baumannii, has been carried out. It has been shown that plasmids, both large and small, play a key role in the formation of the adaptability of Acinetobacter to their living conditions. In particular, it has been demonstrated that the plasmids of various strains of Acinetobacter differ from each other in their structure and gene composition depending on the lifestyle of their host bacteria. Plasmids of modern strains are enriched with antibiotic-resistant genes, while the content of genes involved in resistance to heavy metals and arsenic is comparable to plasmids from modern and ancient strains. It is concluded that Acinetobacter plasmids may ensure the survival of host bacteria under conditions of various types of environmental and clinical stresses. A brief overview of the main mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer on plasmids inherent in Acinetobacter strains is also given. | 2022 | 36142804 |
| 4071 | 7 | 0.9999 | Antibiotic resistance in the environment: a link to the clinic? The emergence of resistance to all classes of antibiotics in previously susceptible bacterial pathogens is a major challenge to infectious disease medicine. The origin of the genes associated with resistance has long been a mystery. There is a growing body of evidence that is demonstrating that environmental microbes are highly drug resistant. The genes that make up this environmental resistome have the potential to be transferred to pathogens and indeed there is some evidence that at least some clinically relevant resistance genes have originated in environmental microbes. Understanding the extent of the environmental resistome and its mobilization into pathogenic bacteria is essential for the management and discovery of antibiotics. | 2010 | 20850375 |
| 9406 | 8 | 0.9999 | Proteomics as the final step in the functional metagenomics study of antimicrobial resistance. The majority of clinically applied antimicrobial agents are derived from natural products generated by soil microorganisms and therefore resistance is likely to be ubiquitous in such environments. This is supported by the fact that numerous clinically important resistance mechanisms are encoded within the genomes of such bacteria. Advances in genomic sequencing have enabled the in silico identification of putative resistance genes present in these microorganisms. However, it is not sufficient to rely on the identification of putative resistance genes, we must also determine if the resultant proteins confer a resistant phenotype. This will require an analysis pipeline that extends from the extraction of environmental DNA, to the identification and analysis of potential resistance genes and their resultant proteins and phenotypes. This review focuses on the application of functional metagenomics and proteomics to study antimicrobial resistance in diverse environments. | 2015 | 25784907 |
| 4045 | 9 | 0.9999 | Bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents and its impact on veterinary and human medicine. BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance has become a major challenge in veterinary medicine, particularly in the context of bacterial pathogens that play a role in both humans and animals. OBJECTIVES: This review serves as an update on acquired resistance mechanisms in bacterial pathogens of human and animal origin, including examples of transfer of resistant pathogens between hosts and of resistance genes between bacteria. RESULTS: Acquired resistance is based on resistance-mediating mutations or on mobile resistance genes. Although mutations are transferred vertically, mobile resistance genes are also transferred horizontally (by transformation, transduction or conjugation/mobilization), contributing to the dissemination of resistance. Mobile genes specifying any of the three major resistance mechanisms - enzymatic inactivation, reduced intracellular accumulation or modification of the cellular target sites - have been found in a variety of bacteria that may be isolated from animals. Such resistance genes are associated with plasmids, transposons, gene cassettes, integrative and conjugative elements or other mobile elements. Bacteria, including zoonotic pathogens, can be exchanged between animals and humans mainly via direct contact, but also via dust, aerosols or foods. Proof of the direction of transfer of resistant bacteria can be difficult and depends on the location of resistance genes or mutations in the chromosomal DNA or on a mobile element. CONCLUSION: The wide variety in resistance and resistance transfer mechanisms will continue to ensure the success of bacterial pathogens in the future. Our strategies to counteract resistance and preserve the efficacy of antimicrobial agents need to be equally diverse and resourceful. | 2017 | 27581211 |
| 9694 | 10 | 0.9999 | Antibiotics as selectors and accelerators of diversity in the mechanisms of resistance: from the resistome to genetic plasticity in the β-lactamases world. Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance determinants, natural molecules closely related to bacterial physiology and consistent with an ancient origin, are not only present in antibiotic-producing bacteria. Throughput sequencing technologies have revealed an unexpected reservoir of antibiotic resistance in the environment. These data suggest that co-evolution between antibiotic and antibiotic resistance genes has occurred since the beginning of time. This evolutionary race has probably been slow because of highly regulated processes and low antibiotic concentrations. Therefore to understand this global problem, a new variable must be introduced, that the antibiotic resistance is a natural event, inherent to life. However, the industrial production of natural and synthetic antibiotics has dramatically accelerated this race, selecting some of the many resistance genes present in nature and contributing to their diversification. One of the best models available to understand the biological impact of selection and diversification are β-lactamases. They constitute the most widespread mechanism of resistance, at least among pathogenic bacteria, with more than 1000 enzymes identified in the literature. In the last years, there has been growing concern about the description, spread, and diversification of β-lactamases with carbapenemase activity and AmpC-type in plasmids. Phylogenies of these enzymes help the understanding of the evolutionary forces driving their selection. Moreover, understanding the adaptive potential of β-lactamases contribute to exploration the evolutionary antagonists trajectories through the design of more efficient synthetic molecules. In this review, we attempt to analyze the antibiotic resistance problem from intrinsic and environmental resistomes to the adaptive potential of resistance genes and the driving forces involved in their diversification, in order to provide a global perspective of the resistance problem. | 2013 | 23404545 |
| 9683 | 11 | 0.9999 | Antimicrobial resistance and virulence: a successful or deleterious association in the bacterial world? Hosts and bacteria have coevolved over millions of years, during which pathogenic bacteria have modified their virulence mechanisms to adapt to host defense systems. Although the spread of pathogens has been hindered by the discovery and widespread use of antimicrobial agents, antimicrobial resistance has increased globally. The emergence of resistant bacteria has accelerated in recent years, mainly as a result of increased selective pressure. However, although antimicrobial resistance and bacterial virulence have developed on different timescales, they share some common characteristics. This review considers how bacterial virulence and fitness are affected by antibiotic resistance and also how the relationship between virulence and resistance is affected by different genetic mechanisms (e.g., coselection and compensatory mutations) and by the most prevalent global responses. The interplay between these factors and the associated biological costs depend on four main factors: the bacterial species involved, virulence and resistance mechanisms, the ecological niche, and the host. The development of new strategies involving new antimicrobials or nonantimicrobial compounds and of novel diagnostic methods that focus on high-risk clones and rapid tests to detect virulence markers may help to resolve the increasing problem of the association between virulence and resistance, which is becoming more beneficial for pathogenic bacteria. | 2013 | 23554414 |
| 4046 | 12 | 0.9999 | Horizontal Gene Transfer and Its Association with Antibiotic Resistance in the Genus Aeromonas spp. The evolution of multidrug resistant bacteria to the most diverse antimicrobials known so far pose a serious problem to global public health. Currently, microorganisms that develop resistant phenotypes to multiple drugs are associated with high morbidity and mortality. This resistance is encoded by a group of genes termed 'bacterial resistome', divided in intrinsic and extrinsic resistome. The first one refers to the resistance displayed on an organism without previous exposure to an antibiotic not involving horizontal genetic transfer, and it can be acquired via mutations. The latter, on the contrary, is acquired exclusively via horizontal genetic transfer involving mobile genetic elements that constitute the 'bacterial mobilome'. This transfer is mediated by three different mechanisms: transduction, transformation, and conjugation. Recently, a problem of public health due to implications in the emergence of multi-drug resistance in Aeromonas spp. strains in water environments has been described. This is derived from the genetic material transfer via conjugation events. This is important, since bacteria that have acquired antibiotic resistance in natural environments can cause infections derived from their ingestion or direct contact with open wounds or mucosal tissue, which in turn, by their resistant nature, makes their eradication complex. Implications of the emergence of resistance in Aeromonas spp. by horizontal gene transfer on public health are discussed. | 2019 | 31540466 |
| 9697 | 13 | 0.9999 | Origins and evolution of antibiotic resistance. The massive prescription of antibiotics and their non-regulated and extensive usage has resulted in the development of extensive antibiotic resistance in microorganisms; this has been of great clinical significance. Antibiotic resistance occurs not only by mutation of microbial genes which code for antibiotic uptake into cells or the binding sites for antibiotics, but mostly by the acquisition of heterologous resistance genes from external sources. The physical characteristics of the microbial community play a major role in gene exchange, but antimicrobial agents provide the selective pressure for the development of resistance and promote the transfer of resistance genes among bacteria. The control of antibiotic usage is essential to prevent the development of resistance to new antibiotics. | 1996 | 9019139 |
| 4072 | 14 | 0.9999 | A horizontal transmission of genetic information and its importance for development of antibiotics resistance. Genetic information is transmitted among organisms through two pathways - vertically from generation to generation (from parents to progeny) and horizontally (laterally) by direct exchange of genetic material across species barriers. These are primarily prokaryotes, in which the exchange of genes or whole gene segments by horizontal transmission is quite common. They can dynamically and in a relatively short time generate highly diverse genomes, which does not allow the vertical transmission. As a result, prokaryotes can rapidly acquire new properties such as virulence and pathogenicity as well as resistance to toxins, including antibiotics, by which they increase their adaptability. Therefore, reinfection-resistant microorganisms are always more difficult to treat than infections caused by non-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistance today is a global problem of health care service. Not only does the number of diseases caused by resistant pathogenic strains of bacteria increase, but also the cost of treatment increases disproportionately, the length of hospitalization is prolonged, and mortality is often rising. Therefore, when indicating antibiotic therapy, it is important to keep in mind that both overuse and abuse of antibiotics contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes. This is equally true for antibiotic applications in veterinary medicine, agriculture, including aquacultures, or in the food industry. Keywords: horizontal transmission of genetic information, endosymbiosis, antibiotic resistance, risks of the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance, prevention of antibiotic resistance. | 2018 | 30441943 |
| 9309 | 15 | 0.9999 | Plasmid encoded antibiotic resistance: acquisition and transfer of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria. Bacteria have existed on Earth for three billion years or so and have become adept at protecting themselves against toxic chemicals. Antibiotics have been in clinical use for a little more than 6 decades. That antibiotic resistance is now a major clinical problem all over the world attests to the success and speed of bacterial adaptation. Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in bacteria are varied and include target protection, target substitution, antibiotic detoxification and block of intracellular antibiotic accumulation. Acquisition of genes needed to elaborate the various mechanisms is greatly aided by a variety of promiscuous gene transfer systems, such as bacterial conjugative plasmids, transposable elements and integron systems, that move genes from one DNA system to another and from one bacterial cell to another, not necessarily one related to the gene donor. Bacterial plasmids serve as the scaffold on which are assembled arrays of antibiotic resistance genes, by transposition (transposable elements and ISCR mediated transposition) and site-specific recombination mechanisms (integron gene cassettes).The evidence suggests that antibiotic resistance genes in human bacterial pathogens originate from a multitude of bacterial sources, indicating that the genomes of all bacteria can be considered as a single global gene pool into which most, if not all, bacteria can dip for genes necessary for survival. In terms of antibiotic resistance, plasmids serve a central role, as the vehicles for resistance gene capture and their subsequent dissemination. These various aspects of bacterial resistance to antibiotics will be explored in this presentation. | 2008 | 18193080 |
| 4238 | 16 | 0.9999 | Biocide tolerance in bacteria. Biocides have been employed for centuries, so today a wide range of compounds showing different levels of antimicrobial activity have become available. At the present time, understanding the mechanisms of action of biocides has also become an important issue with the emergence of bacterial tolerance to biocides and the suggestion that biocide and antibiotic resistance in bacteria might be linked. While most of the mechanisms providing antibiotic resistance are agent specific, providing resistance to a single antimicrobial or class of antimicrobial, there are currently numerous examples of efflux systems that accommodate and, thus, provide tolerance to a broad range of structurally unrelated antimicrobials, both antibiotics and biocides. If biocide tolerance becomes increasingly common and it is linked to antibiotic resistance, not only resistant (even multi-resistant) bacteria could be passed along the food chain, but also there are resistance determinants that can spread and lead to the emergence of new resistant microorganisms, which can only be detected and monitored when the building blocks of resistance traits are understood on the molecular level. This review summarizes the main advances reached in understanding the mechanism of action of biocides, the mechanisms of bacterial resistance to both biocides and antibiotics, and the incidence of biocide tolerance in bacteria of concern to human health and the food industry. | 2013 | 23340387 |
| 4250 | 17 | 0.9998 | Intrinsic, adaptive and acquired antimicrobial resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria are responsible for a large proportion of antimicrobial-resistant infections in humans and animals. Among this class of bacteria are also some of the most successful environmental organisms. Part of this success is their adaptability to a variety of different niches, their intrinsic resistance to antimicrobial drugs and their ability to rapidly acquire resistance mechanisms. These mechanisms of resistance are not exclusive and the interplay of several mechanisms causes high levels of resistance. In this review, we explore the molecular mechanisms underlying resistance in Gram-negative organisms and how these different mechanisms enable them to survive many different stress conditions. | 2017 | 28258229 |
| 9689 | 18 | 0.9998 | Evolution of foodborne pathogens via temperate bacteriophage-mediated gene transfer. Temperate bacteriophages have always been central to the evolution of bacteria, although their importance has been consistently underestimated compared to transformation and conjugation. In the last 20 years, as more gene and genome sequences have become available and researchers have more accurately determined bacteriophage populations in the environment, we are gaining a clearer picture of their role in the past and potential role in the future. The transductive and lysogenic capacities of this class of bacteriophages have contributed to the evolution and shaping of emerging foodborne pathogenic bacteria through the dissemination of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes. For example, the genome sequences of Shigella dysenteriae, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and the Stxencoding bacteriophages demonstrate the critical role bacteriophage-mediated gene transfer events played in the evolution of these high-profile human pathogens. In this review, we describe the basic genetic exchange mechanisms mediated by temperate bacteriophages and how these mechanisms have been central to the dissemination of virulence genes, such as toxins and antibiotics from one species to another (the shiga-like toxins, and multiple antibiotic resistance dissemination in Salmonella are used as specific examples). Data demonstrating the role of bacteriophages in the spread of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria, including interspecies transduction, are also presented. That temperate bacteriophages play a role in the on-going evolution of emerging pathogenic bacteria is obvious, but it is also clearly an on-going process with a breadth that must be appreciated as well as studied further if we are to be able to foresee what new challenges will arise to imperil food safety. | 2005 | 16366852 |
| 4043 | 19 | 0.9998 | Mobile antibiotic resistance - the spread of genes determining the resistance of bacteria through food products. In recent years, more and more antibiotics have become ineffective in the treatment of bacterial nfections. The acquisition of antibiotic resistance by bacteria is associated with circulation of genes in the environment. Determinants of antibiotic resistance may be transferred to pathogenic bacteria. It has been shown that conjugation is one of the key mechanisms responsible for spread of antibiotic resistance genes, which is highly efficient and allows the barrier to restrictions and modifications to be avoided. Some conjugative modules enable the transfer of plasmids even between phylogenetically distant bacterial species. Many scientific reports indicate that food is one of the main reservoirs of these genes. Antibiotic resistance genes have been identified in meat products, milk, fruits and vegetables. The reason for such a wide spread of antibiotic resistance genes is the overuse of antibiotics by breeders of plants and animals, as well as by horizontal gene transfer. It was shown, that resistance determinants located on mobile genetic elements, which are isolated from food products, can easily be transferred to another niche. The antibiotic resistance genes have been in the environment for 30 000 years. Their removal from food products is not possible, but the risks associated with the emergence of multiresistant pathogenic strains are very large. The only option is to control the emergence, selection and spread of these genes. Therefore measures are sought to prevent horizontal transfer of genes. Promising concepts involve the combination of developmental biology, evolution and ecology in the fight against the spread of antibiotic resistance. | 2016 | 27383577 |