# | Rank | Similarity | Title + Abs. | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 338 | 0 | 0.9746 | Repair by genetic recombination in bacteria: overview. DNA molecules that have been damaged in both strands at the same level are not subject to repair by excision but instead can be repaired through recombination with homologous molecules. Examples of two-strand damage include postreplication gaps opposite pyrimidine dimers, two-strand breaks produced by X-rays, and chemically induced interstrand cross-links. In ultraviolet-irradiated bacteria, the newly synthesized DNA is of length equal to the interdimer spacing. With continued incubation, this low-molecular-weight DNA is joined into high-molecular-weight chains (postreplication repair), a process associated with sister exchanges in bacteria. Recombination is initiated by pyrimidine dimers opposite postreplication gaps and by interstrand cross-links that have been cut by excision enzymes. The free ends at the resulting gaps presumably initiate the exchanges. Postreplication repair in Escherichia coli occurs in recB- AND RECC but is greatly slowed in recF- mutants. RecB and recC are the structural genes for exonuclease V, which digests two-stranded DNA by releasing oligonucleotides first from one strand and then from the other. The postreplication sister exchanges in ultra-violet-irradiated bacteria result in the distribution of pyrimidine dimers between parental and daughter strands, indicating that long exchanges involving both strands of each duplex occur. The R1 restriction endonuclease from E. COli has been used to cut the DNA of a bacterial drug-resistance transfer factor with one nuclease-sensitive site, and also DNA from the frog Xenopus enriched for ribosomal 18S and 28S genes. The fragments were annealed with the cut plasmid DNA and ligated, producing a new larger plasmid carrying the eukaryotic rDNA and able to infect and replicate in E. coli. | 1975 | 1103833 |
| 4105 | 1 | 0.9738 | One Earth: The Equilibrium between the Human and the Bacterial Worlds. Misuse and abuse of antibiotics on humans, cattle, and crops have led to the selection of multi-resistant pathogenic bacteria, the most feared 'superbugs'. Infections caused by superbugs are progressively difficult to treat, with a subsequent increase in lethality: the toll on human lives is predicted to reach 10 million by 2050. Here we review three concepts linked to the growing resistance to antibiotics, namely (i) the Resistome, which refers to the collection of bacterial genes that confer resistance to antibiotics, (ii) the Mobilome, which includes all the mobile genetic elements that participate in the spreading of antibiotic resistance among bacteria by horizontal gene transfer processes, and (iii) the Nichome, which refers to the set of genes that are expressed when bacteria try to colonize new niches. We also discuss the strategies that can be used to tackle bacterial infections and propose an entente cordiale with the bacterial world so that instead of war and destruction of the 'fierce enemy' we can achieve a peaceful coexistence (the One Earth concept) between the human and the bacterial worlds. This, in turn, will contribute to microbial biodiversity, which is crucial in a globally changing climate due to anthropogenic activities. | 2023 | 37894729 |
| 9734 | 2 | 0.9736 | Combination of genetically diverse Pseudomonas phages enhances the cocktail efficiency against bacteria. Phage treatment has been used as an alternative to antibiotics since the early 1900s. However, bacteria may acquire phage resistance quickly, limiting the use of phage treatment. The combination of genetically diverse phages displaying distinct replication machinery in phage cocktails has therefore become a novel strategy to improve therapeutic outcomes. Here, we isolated and studied lytic phages (SPA01 and SPA05) that infect a wide range of clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates. These relatively small myophages have around 93 kbp genomes with no undesirable genes, have a 30-min latent period, and reproduce a relatively high number of progenies, ranging from 218 to 240 PFU per infected cell. Even though both phages lyse their hosts within 4 h, phage-resistant bacteria emerge during the treatment. Considering SPA01-resistant bacteria cross-resist phage SPA05 and vice versa, combining SPA01 and SPA05 for a cocktail would be ineffective. According to the decreased adsorption rate of the phages in the resistant isolates, one of the anti-phage mechanisms may occur through modification of phage receptors on the target cells. All resistant isolates, however, are susceptible to nucleus-forming jumbophages (PhiKZ and PhiPA3), which are genetically distinct from phages SPA01 and SPA05, suggesting that the jumbophages recognize a different receptor during phage entry. The combination of these phages with the jumbophage PhiKZ outperforms other tested combinations in terms of bactericidal activity and effectively suppresses the emergence of phage resistance. This finding reveals the effectiveness of the diverse phage-composed cocktail for reducing bacterial growth and prolonging the evolution of phage resistance. | 2023 | 37264114 |
| 9824 | 3 | 0.9735 | Transposons: the agents of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Transposons are a group of mobile genetic elements that are defined as a DNA sequence. Transposons can jump into different places of the genome; for this reason, they are called jumping genes. However, some transposons are always kept at the insertion site in the genome. Most transposons are inactivated and as a result, cannot move. Transposons are divided into two main groups: retrotransposons (class І) and DNA transposons (class ІІ). Retrotransposons are often found in eukaryotes. DNA transposons can be found in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The bacterial transposons belong to the DNA transposons and the Tn family, which are usually the carrier of additional genes for antibiotic resistance. Transposons can transfer from a plasmid to other plasmids or from a DNA chromosome to plasmid and vice versa that cause the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria. The treatment of bacterial infectious diseases is difficult because of existing antibiotic resistance that part of this antibiotic resistance is caused by transposons. Bacterial infectious diseases are responsible for the increasing rise in world mortality rate. In this review, transposons and their roles have been studied in bacterial antibiotic resistance, in detail. | 2018 | 30113080 |
| 395 | 4 | 0.9734 | O-antigen protects gram-negative bacteria from histone killing. Beyond their traditional role of wrapping DNA, histones display antibacterial activity to Gram-negative and -positive bacteria. To identify bacterial components that allow survival to a histone challenge, we selected resistant bacteria from homologous Escherichia coli libraries that harbor plasmids carrying pieces of the chromosome in different sizes. We identified genes required for exopolysaccharide production and for the synthesis of the polysaccharide domain of the lipopolysaccharide, called O-antigen. Indeed, O-antigen and exopolysaccharide conferred further resistance to histones. Notably, O-antigen also conferred resistance to histones in the pathogens Shigella flexneri and Klebsiella pneumoniae. | 2013 | 23951089 |
| 9239 | 5 | 0.9733 | Tragedy of the commons among antibiotic resistance plasmids. As social interactions are increasingly recognized as important determinants of microbial fitness, sociobiology is being enlisted to better understand the evolution of clinically relevant microbes and, potentially, to influence their evolution to aid human health. Of special interest are situations in which there exists a "tragedy of the commons," where natural selection leads to a net reduction in fitness for all members of a population. Here, I demonstrate the existence of a tragedy of the commons among antibiotic resistance plasmids of bacteria. In serial transfer culture, plasmids evolved a greater ability to superinfect already-infected bacteria, increasing plasmid fitness when evolved genotypes were rare. Evolved plasmids, however, fell victim to their own success, reducing the density of their bacterial hosts when they became common and suffering reduced fitness through vertical transmission. Social interactions can thus be an important determinant of evolution for the molecular endosymbionts of bacteria. These results also identify an avenue of evolution that reduces proliferation of both antibiotic resistance genes and their bacterial hosts. | 2012 | 22486703 |
| 9819 | 6 | 0.9733 | Site-specific recombination and shuffling of resistance genes in transposon Tn21. Many multidrug-resistant transposons found in natural isolates of Gram-negative bacteria are close relatives of Tn21. Thus, the Tn21 subgroup of the Tn3 family of transposable elements is the most successful homogeneous group in acquiring resistance to newly introduced antibiotics. This paper summarizes the mode of acquisition of resistance genes by these elements. | 1991 | 1660178 |
| 9058 | 7 | 0.9732 | Antisense Agents against Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria. The dramatically increasing levels of antibiotic resistance are being seen worldwide and are a significant threat to public health. Antibiotic and drug resistance is seen in various bacterial species. Antibiotic resistance is associated with increased morbidity and mortality and increased treatment costs. Antisense-related technologies include oligonucleotides that interfere with gene transcription and expression; these oligonucleotides can help treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The important oligonucleotides include Peptide Nucleic Acids (PNAs), Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligomers (PPMOs), and Locked Nucleic Acids (LNAs). Typically, the size of these structures (oligonucleotides) is 10 to 20 bases. PNAs, PPMOs, and LNAs are highlighted in this review as targets for genes that cause the gene to be destroyed and impede bacterial growth. These results open a new perspective for therapeutic intervention. Future studies need to examine different aspects of antisense agents, such as the safety, toxicity, and pharmacokinetic properties of antisense agents in clinical treatment. | 2022 | 35034590 |
| 9411 | 8 | 0.9732 | The evolutionary dynamics of male-killers and their hosts. Male-killing bacteria are cytoplasmic sex-ratio distorters that are transmitted vertically through females of their insect hosts. The killing of male hosts by their bacteria is thought to be an adaptive bacterial trait because it augments the fitness of female hosts carrying clonal relatives of those bacteria. Here we attempt to explain observations of multiple male-killers in natural host populations. First we show that such male-killer polymorphism cannot be explained by a classical model of male-killing. We then show that more complicated models incorporating the evolution of resistance in hosts can explain male-killer polymorphism. However, this is only likely if resistance genes are very costly. We also consider the long-term evolutionary dynamics of male-killers, and show that evolution towards progressively more 'efficient' male-killers can be thwarted by the appearance of host resistance. The presence of a resistance gene can allow a less efficient male-killer to outcompete its rival and hence reverse the trend towards more efficient transmission and reduced metabolic load on the host. | 2000 | 10762384 |
| 4899 | 9 | 0.9732 | Chemiluminescent Carbapenem-Based Molecular Probe for Detection of Carbapenemase Activity in Live Bacteria. Carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs) pose a severe threat to antibacterial treatment due to the acquisition of antibiotic resistance. This resistance can be largely attributed to the antibiotic-hydrolyzing enzymes that the bacteria produce. Current carbapenem "wonder drugs", such as doripenem, ertapenem, meropenem, imipenem, and so on, are resistant to regular β-lactamases, but susceptible to carbapenemases. Even worse, extended exposure of bacteria to these drugs accelerates the spread of resistance genes. In order to preserve the clinical efficacy of antibacterial treatment, carbapenem drugs should be carefully regulated and deployed only in cases of a CPO infection. Early diagnosis is therefore of paramount importance. Herein, we report the design, synthesis, and activity of the first carbapenemase-sensitive chemiluminescent probe, CPCL, which may be used to monitor CPO activity. The design of our probe enables enzymatic cleavage of the carbapenem core, which is followed by a facile 1,8-elimination process and the emission of green light through rapid chemical excitation. We have demonstrated the ability of the probe to detect a number of clinically relevant carbapenemases and the successful identification of CPO present in bacterial cultures, such as those used for clinical diagnosis. We believe that our use of "turn-on" chemiluminescence activation will find significant application in future diagnostic assays and improve antibacterial treatment. | 2020 | 31957167 |
| 4273 | 10 | 0.9732 | Mathematical modeling on bacterial resistance to multiple antibiotics caused by spontaneous mutations. We formulate a mathematical model that describes the population dynamics of bacteria exposed to multiple antibiotics simultaneously, assuming that acquisition of resistance is through mutations due to antibiotic exposure. Qualitative analysis reveals the existence of a free-bacteria equilibrium, resistant-bacteria equilibrium and an endemic equilibrium where both bacteria coexist. | 2014 | 24467935 |
| 9490 | 11 | 0.9732 | The superbugs: evolution, dissemination and fitness. Since the introduction of antibiotics, bacteria have not only evolved elegant resistance mechanisms to thwart their effect, but have also evolved ways in which to disseminate themselves or their resistance genes to other susceptible bacteria. During the past few years, research has revealed not only how such resistance mechanisms have been able to evolve and to rapidly disseminate, but also how bacteria have, in some cases, been able to adapt to this new burden of resistance with little or no cost to their fitness. Such adaptations make the control of these superbugs all the more difficult. | 1998 | 10066531 |
| 9061 | 12 | 0.9731 | Ozone-Resistant Bacteria, an Inconvenient Hazard in Water Reclamation: Resistance Mechanism, Propagating Capacity, and Potential Risks. Resistant bacteria have always been of research interest worldwide. In the urban water system, the increased disinfectant usage gives more chances for undesirable disinfection-resistant bacteria. As the strongest oxidative disinfectant in large-scale water treatment, ozone might select ozone-resistant bacteria (ORB), which, however, have rarely been reported and are inexplicit for their resistant mechanisms and physiological characteristics. In this study, six strains of ORB were screened from a water reclamation plant in Beijing. Three of them (O7, CR19, and O4) were more resistant to ozone than all previously reported ORB or even spores. The ozone consumption capacity of extracellular polymeric substances and cell walls was proved to be the main sources of bacterial ozone resistance, rather than intracellular antioxidant enzymes. The transcriptome results elucidated that strong ORB possessed a combined antioxidant mechanism consisting of the enhanced transcription of protein synthesis, protein export, and polysaccharide export genes (LptF, LptB, NodJ, LivK, LviG, MetQ, MetN, and GltU). This study confirmed the existence of ORB in urban water systems and brought doubts to the idea of a traditional control strategy against chlorine-resistant bacteria. A salient "trade-off" effect between the ozone resistance and propagation ability indicated the weakness and potential control approaches of ORB. | 2024 | 39344972 |
| 9481 | 13 | 0.9731 | Genetic linkage and horizontal gene transfer, the roots of the antibiotic multi-resistance problem. Bacteria carrying resistance genes for many antibiotics are moving beyond the clinic into the community, infecting otherwise healthy people with untreatable and frequently fatal infections. This state of affairs makes it increasingly important that we understand the sources of this problem in terms of bacterial biology and ecology and also that we find some new targets for drugs that will help control this growing epidemic. This brief and eclectic review takes the perspective that we have too long thought about the problem in terms of treatment with or resistance to a single antibiotic at a time, assuming that dissemination of the resistance gene was affected by simple vertical inheritance. In reality antibiotic resistance genes are readily transferred horizontally, even to and from distantly related bacteria. The common agents of bacterial gene transfer are described and also one of the processes whereby nonantibiotic chemicals, specifically toxic metals, in the environment can select for and enrich bacteria with antibiotic multiresistance. Lastly, some speculation is offered on broadening our perspective on this problem to include drugs directed at compromising the ability of the mobile elements themselves to replicate, transfer, and recombine, that is, the three "infrastructure" processes central to the movement of genes among bacteria. | 2006 | 17127524 |
| 8237 | 14 | 0.9731 | Antibiotic tolerance, persistence, and resistance of the evolved minimal cell, Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-Syn3B. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem, but bacteria can evade antibiotic treatment via tolerance and persistence. Antibiotic persisters are a small subpopulation of bacteria that tolerate antibiotics due to a physiologically dormant state. Hence, persistence is considered a major contributor to the evolution of antibiotic-resistant and relapsing infections. Here, we used the synthetically developed minimal cell Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-Syn3B to examine essential mechanisms of antibiotic survival. The minimal cell contains only 473 genes, and most genes are essential. Its reduced complexity helps to reveal hidden phenomenon and fundamental biological principles can be explored because of less redundancy and feedback between systems compared to natural cells. We found that Syn3B evolves antibiotic resistance to different types of antibiotics expeditiously. The minimal cell also tolerates and persists against multiple antibiotics. It contains a few already identified persister-related genes, although lacking many systems previously linked to persistence (e.g. toxin-antitoxin systems, ribosome hibernation genes). | 2021 | 33997676 |
| 355 | 15 | 0.9731 | Evolution of multiple-antibiotic-resistance plasmids mediated by transposable plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid sequences. Two plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid sequences mediating multiple antibiotic resistance transposed in vivo between coexisting plasmids in clinical isolates of Serratia marcescens. This event resulted in the evolution of a transferable multiresistance plasmid. Both sequences, designated in Tn1699 and Tn1700, were flanked by inverted deoxyribonucleic acid repetitions and could transpose between replicons independently of the Excherichia coli recA gene function. Tn1699 and Tn1700 mediated ampicillin, carbenicillin, kanamycin, and gentamicin resistance but differed in the type of gentamicin-acetyltransferase enzymes that they encoded. The structural genes for these enzymes share a great deal of polynucleotide sequence similarity despite their phenotypic differences. The transposition of Tn1699 and Tn1700 to coresident transferable plasmids has contributed to the dissemination of antibiotic resistance among other gram-negative bacteria. These organisms have recently caused nosocomial infections in epidemic proportions. | 1979 | 387747 |
| 9236 | 16 | 0.9730 | Mutant bacteriophages, Frank Macfarlane Burnet, and the changing nature of "genespeak" in the 1930s. In 1936, Frank Macfarlane Burnet published a paper entitled "Induced lysogenicity and the mutation of bacteriophage within lysogenic bacteria," in which he demonstrated that the introduction of a specific bacteriophage into a bacterial strain consistently and repeatedly imparted a specific property - namely the resistance to a different phage - to the bacterial strain that was originally susceptible to lysis by that second phage. Burnet's explanation for this change was that the first phage was causing a mutation in the bacterium which rendered it and its successive generations of offspring resistant to lysogenicity. At the time, this idea was a novel one that needed compelling evidence to be accepted. While it is difficult for us today to conceive of mutations and genes outside the context of DNA as the physico-chemical basis of genes, in the mid 1930s, when this paper was published, DNA's role as the carrier of hereditary information had not yet been discovered and genes and mutations were yet to acquire physical and chemical forms. Also, during that time genes were considered to exist only in organisms capable of sexual modes of replication and the status of bacteria and viruses as organisms capable of containing genes and manifesting mutations was still in question. Burnet's paper counts among those pieces of work that helped dispel the notion that genes, inheritance and mutations were tied to an organism's sexual status. In this paper, I analyze the implications of Burnet's paper for the understanding of various concepts - such as "mutation," and "gene," - at the time it was published, and how those understandings shaped the development of the meanings of these terms and our modern conceptions thereof. | 2010 | 20665082 |
| 9829 | 17 | 0.9730 | Promiscuous transfer of drug resistance in gram-negative bacteria. Bacterial conjugation is a major mechanism for the spread of antibiotic-resistance genes in pathogenic organisms. In gram-negative bacteria, broad-host-range drug-resistance plasmids mediate genetic exchange between many unrelated species. The mechanism of conjugation encoded by the broad-host-range IncP plasmid RK2 has been studied in detail. The location and sequence of the transfer origin of RK2 has been determined. Several barriers limit plasmid transfer between unrelated bacteria: interactions at the cell surface may prevent effective mating contact, restriction systems may degrade foreign DNA, or the plasmid may not replicate in the new host. RK2 has evolved specific mechanisms by which it overcomes these barriers; this plasmid can mediate the transfer of resistance to most gram-negative bacteria. | 1984 | 6143782 |
| 4430 | 18 | 0.9730 | βLactam Resistance Mediated by Changes in Penicillin-Binding Proteins. The widespread use, or perhaps overuse, of penicillin during the past 50 yr has driven the evolution of resistance to penicilling in numerous different species of bacteria.Typically, resistance has arisen as a result of the acquisition of β-lactamases that inactivate the antibiotic (see Chapter 25 . Alternatively, in some Gram-negative bacteria, resistance may have arisen by a reduction in the ability of the antibiotic to access its target. However, in a number of clinically important Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, resistance has arisen by alteration of the targets for penicillin and other β-lactam antibiotics, namely, the penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). | 1998 | 21390765 |
| 9827 | 19 | 0.9730 | Evolution of bacterial resistance to antibiotics during the last three decades. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is often plasmid-mediated and the associated genes encoded by transposable elements. These elements play a central role in evolution by providing mechanisms for the generation of diversity and, in conjunction with DNA transfer systems, for the dissemination of resistances to other bacteria. At the University Hospital of Zaragoza, extensive efforts have been made to define both the dissemination and evolution of antibiotic resistance by studying the transferable R plasmids and transposable elements. Here we describe the research on bacterial resistance to antibiotics in which many authors listed in the references have participated. The aspects of bacterial resistance dealt with are: (i) transferable resistance mediated by R plasmids in Gram-negative bacteria, (ii) R plasmid-mediated resistance to apramycin and hygromycin in clinical strains, (iii) the transposon Tn1696 and the integron In4, (iv) expression of Escherichia coli resistance genes in Haemophilus influenzae, (v) aminoglycoside-modifying-enzymes in the genus Mycobacterium with no relation to resistance, and (vi) macrolide-resistance and new mechanisms developed by Gram-positive bacteria. | 1998 | 10943375 |