# | Rank | Similarity | Title + Abs. | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 8173 | 0 | 0.9980 | Advancing Antibacterial Strategies: CRISPR-Phage-Mediated Gene Therapy Targeting Bacterial Resistance Genes. One of the most significant issues facing the world today is antibiotic resistance, which makes it increasingly difficult to treat bacterial infections. Regular antibiotics no longer work against many bacteria, affecting millions of people. A novel approach known as CRISPR-phage therapy may be beneficial. This technique introduces a technology called CRISPR into resistant bacteria using bacteriophages. The genes that cause bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics can be identified and cut using CRISPR. This enables antibiotics to function by inhibiting the bacteria. This approach is highly precise, unlike conventional antibiotics, so it doesn't damage our bodies' beneficial bacteria. Preliminary studies and limited clinical trials suggest that this technique can effectively target drug-resistant bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). However, challenges in phage engineering, host delivery, and the growing threat of bacterial CRISPR resistance demand urgent and strategic innovation. Our perspective underscores that without proactive resolution of these hurdles, the current hopefulness could disappear. Looking ahead, integrating next-generation Cas effectors, non-DSB editors, and resistance monitoring frameworks could transform CRISPR-phage systems from an experimental novelty into a clinical mainstay. This shift will require not only scientific ingenuity but also coordinated advances in regulatory, translational, and manufacturing efforts. | 2025 | 40990280 |
| 6650 | 1 | 0.9979 | Antibiotic resistance is never going to go away. No matter how many drugs we throw at it, no matter how much money and resources are sacrificed to wage a war on resistance, it will always prevail. Humans are forced to coexist with the fact of antibiotic resistance. Public health officials, clinicians, and scientists must find effective ways to cope with antibiotic resistant bacteria harmful to humans and animals and to control the development of new types of resistance. The American Academy of Microbiology convened a colloquium October 12–14, 2008, to discuss antibiotic resistance and the factors that influence the development and spread of resistance. Participants, whose areas of expertise included medicine, microbiology, and public health, made specific recommendations for needed research, policy development, a surveillance network, and treatment guidelines. Antibiotic resistance issues specific to the developing world were discussed and recommendations for improvements were made. Each antibiotic is injurious only to a certain segment of the microbial world, so for a given antibacterial there are some species of bacteria that are susceptible and others not. Bacterial species insusceptible to a particular drug are “naturally resistant.” Species that were once sensitive but eventually became resistant to it are said to have “acquired resistance.” It is important to note that “acquired resistance” affects a subset of strains in the entire species; that is why the prevalence of “acquired resistance” in a species is different according to location. Antibiotic resistance, the acquired ability of a pathogen to withstand an antibiotic that kills off its sensitive counterparts, originally arises from random mutations in existing genes or from intact genes that already serve a similar purpose. Exposure to antibiotics and other antimicrobial products, whether in the human body, in animals, or the environment, applies selective pressure that encourages resistance to emerge favoring both “naturally resistant” strains and strains which have “acquired resistance.” Horizontal gene transfer, in which genetic information is passed between microbes, allows resistance determinants to spread within harmless environmental or commensal microorganisms and pathogens, thus creating a reservoir of resistance. Resistance is also spread by the replication of microbes that carry resistance genes, a process that produces genetically identical (or clonal) progeny. Rapid diagnostic methods and surveillance are some of the most valuable tools in preventing the spread of resistance. Access to more rapid diagnostic tests that could determine the causative agent and antibiotic susceptibility of infections would inform better decision making with respect to antibiotic use, help slow the selection of resistant strains in clinical settings, and enable better disease surveillance. A rigorous surveillance network to track the evolution and spread of resistance is also needed and would probably result in significant savings in healthcare. Developing countries face unique challenges when it comes to antibiotic resistance; chief among them may be the wide availability of antibiotics without a prescription and also counterfeit products of dubious quality. Lack of adequate hygiene, poor water quality, and failure to manage human waste also top the list. Recommendations for addressing the problems of widespread resistance in the developing world include: proposals for training and infrastructure capacity building; surveillance programs; greater access to susceptibility testing; government controls on import, manufacture and use; development and use of vaccines; and incentives for pharmaceutical companies to supply drugs to these countries. Controlling antibiotic resistant bacteria and subsequent infections more efficiently necessitates the prudent and responsible use of antibiotics. It is mandatory to prevent the needless use of antibiotics (e.g., viral infections; unnecessary prolonged treatment) and to improve the rapid prescription of appropriate antibiotics to a patient. Delayed or inadequate prescriptions reduce the efficacy of treatment and favor the spread of the infection. Prudent use also applies to veterinary medicine. For example, antibiotics used as “growth promoters” have been banned in Europe and are subject to review in some other countries. There are proven techniques for limiting the spread of resistance, including hand hygiene, but more rapid screening techniques are needed in order to effectively track and prevent spread in clinical settings. The spread of antibiotic resistance on farms and in veterinary hospitals may also be significant and should not be neglected. Research is needed to pursue alternative approaches, including vaccines, antisense therapy, public health initiatives, and others. The important messages about antibiotic resistance are not getting across from scientists and infectious diseases specialists to prescribers, stakeholders, including the public, healthcare providers, and public officials. Innovative and effective communication initiatives are needed, as are carefully tailored messages for each of the stakeholder groups. | 2009 | 32644325 |
| 9189 | 2 | 0.9979 | CRISPR-Cas9 System: A Prospective Pathway toward Combatting Antibiotic Resistance. Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels throughout the world. To cope with this problem, scientists are working on CRISPR-based research so that antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be killed and attacked almost as quickly as antibiotic-sensitive bacteria. Nuclease activity is found in Cas9, which can be programmed with a specific target sequence. This mechanism will only attack pathogens in the microbiota while preserving commensal bacteria. This article portrays the delivery methods used in the CRISPR-Cas system, which are both viral and non-viral, along with its implications and challenges, such as microbial dysbiosis, off-target effects, and failure to counteract intracellular infections. CRISPR-based systems have a lot of applications, such as correcting mutations, developing diagnostics for infectious diseases, improving crops productions, improving breeding techniques, etc. In the future, CRISPR-based systems will revolutionize the world by curing diseases, improving agriculture, and repairing genetic disorders. Though all the drawbacks of the technology, CRISPR carries great potential; thus, the modification and consideration of some aspects could result in a mind-blowing technique to attain all the applications listed and present a game-changing potential. | 2023 | 37370394 |
| 6649 | 3 | 0.9979 | The development of antibiotics has provided much success against infectious diseases in animals and humans. But the intensive and extensive use of antibiotics over the years has resulted in the emergence of drug-resistant bacterial pathogens. The existence of a reservoir(s) of antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in an interactive environment of animals, plants, and humans provides the opportunity for further transfer and dissemination of antibiotic resistance. The emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria has created growing concern about its impact on animal and human health. To specifically address the impact of antibiotic resistance resulting from the use of antibiotics in agriculture, the American Academy of Microbiology convened a colloquium, “Antibiotic Resistance and the Role of Antimicrobials in Agriculture: A Critical Scientific Assessment,” in Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 2–4, 2001. Colloquium participants included academic, industrial, and government researchers with a wide range of expertise, including veterinary medicine, microbiology, food science, pharmacology, and ecology. These scientists were asked to provide their expert opinions on the current status of antibiotic usage and antibiotic resistance, current research information, and provide recommendations for future research needs. The research areas to be addressed were roughly categorized under the following areas: ▪ Origins and reservoirs of resistance; ▪ Transfer of resistance; ▪ Overcoming/modulating resistance by altering usage; and ▪ Interrupting transfer of resistance. The consensus of colloquium participants was that the evaluation of antibiotic usage and its impact were complex and subject to much speculation and polarization. Part of the complexity stems from the diverse array of animals and production practices for food animal production. The overwhelming consensus was that any use of antibiotics creates the possibility for the development of antibiotic resistance, and that there already exist pools of antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotic resistant bacteria. Much discussion revolved around the measurement of antibiotic usage, the measurement of antibiotic resistance, and the ability to evaluate the impact of various types of usage (animal, human) on overall antibiotic resistance. Additionally, many participants identified commensal bacteria as having a possible role in the continuance of antibiotic resistance as reservoirs. Participants agreed that many of the research questions could not be answered completely because of their complexity and the need for better technologies. The concept of the “smoking gun” to indicate that a specific animal source was important in the emergence of certain antibiotic resistant pathogens was discussed, and it was agreed that ascribing ultimate responsibility is likely to be impossible. There was agreement that expanded and more improved surveillance would add to current knowledge. Science-based risk assessments would provide better direction in the future. As far as preventive or intervention activities, colloquium participants reiterated the need for judicious/prudent use guidelines. Yet they also emphasized the need for better dissemination and incorporation by end-users. It is essential that there are studies to measure the impact of educational efforts on antibiotic usage. Other recommendations included alternatives to antibiotics, such as commonly mentioned vaccines and probiotics. There also was an emphasis on management or production practices that might decrease the need for antibiotics. Participants also stressed the need to train new researchers and to interest students in postdoctoral work, through training grants, periodic workshops, and comprehensive conferences. This would provide the expertise needed to address these difficult issues in the future. Finally, the participants noted that scientific societies and professional organizations should play a pivotal role in providing technical advice, distilling and disseminating information to scientists, media, and consumers, and in increasing the visibility and funding for these important issues. The overall conclusion is that antibiotic resistance remains a complex issue with no simple answers. This reinforces the messages from other meetings. The recommendations from this colloquium provide some insightful directions for future research and action. | 2002 | 32687288 |
| 9186 | 4 | 0.9978 | From Gene Editing to Biofilm Busting: CRISPR-CAS9 Against Antibiotic Resistance-A Review. In recent decades, the development of novel antimicrobials has significantly slowed due to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), intensifying the global struggle against infectious diseases. Microbial populations worldwide rapidly develop resistance due to the widespread use of antibiotics, primarily targeting drug-resistant germs. A prominent manifestation of this resistance is the formation of biofilms, where bacteria create protective layers using signaling pathways such as quorum sensing. In response to this challenge, the CRISPR-Cas9 method has emerged as a ground-breaking strategy to counter biofilms. Initially identified as the "adaptive immune system" of bacteria, CRISPR-Cas9 has evolved into a state-of-the-art genetic engineering tool. Its exceptional precision in altering specific genes across diverse microorganisms positions it as a promising alternative for addressing antibiotic resistance by selectively modifying genes in diverse microorganisms. This comprehensive review concentrates on the historical background, discovery, developmental stages, and distinct components of CRISPR Cas9 technology. Emphasizing its role as a widely used genome engineering tool, the review explores how CRISPR Cas9 can significantly contribute to the targeted disruption of genes responsible for biofilm formation, highlighting its pivotal role in reshaping strategies to combat antibiotic resistance and mitigate the challenges posed by biofilm-associated infectious diseases. | 2024 | 38702575 |
| 9185 | 5 | 0.9978 | The Age of Phage: Friend or Foe in the New Dawn of Therapeutic and Biocontrol Applications? Extended overuse and misuse of antibiotics and other antibacterial agents has resulted in an antimicrobial resistance crisis. Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, have emerged as a legitimate alternative antibacterial agent with a wide scope of applications which continue to be discovered and refined. However, the potential of some bacteriophages to aid in the acquisition, maintenance, and dissemination of negatively associated bacterial genes, including resistance and virulence genes, through transduction is of concern and requires deeper understanding in order to be properly addressed. In particular, their ability to interact with mobile genetic elements such as plasmids, genomic islands, and integrative conjugative elements (ICEs) enables bacteriophages to contribute greatly to bacterial evolution. Nonetheless, bacteriophages have the potential to be used as therapeutic and biocontrol agents within medical, agricultural, and food processing settings, against bacteria in both planktonic and biofilm environments. Additionally, bacteriophages have been deployed in developing rapid, sensitive, and specific biosensors for various bacterial targets. Intriguingly, their bioengineering capabilities show great promise in improving their adaptability and effectiveness as biocontrol and detection tools. This review aims to provide a balanced perspective on bacteriophages by outlining advantages, challenges, and future steps needed in order to boost their therapeutic and biocontrol potential, while also providing insight on their potential role in contributing to bacterial evolution and survival. | 2021 | 33670836 |
| 9187 | 6 | 0.9978 | Recent advances in gene-editing approaches for tackling antibiotic resistance threats: a review. Antibiotic resistance, a known global health challenge, involves the flow of bacteria and their genes among animals, humans, and their surrounding environment. It occurs when bacteria evolve and become less responsive to the drugs designated to kill them, making infections harder to treat. Despite several obstacles preventing the spread of genes and bacteria, pathogens regularly acquire novel resistance factors from other species, which reduces their ability to prevent and treat such bacterial infections. This issue requires coordinated efforts in healthcare, research, and public awareness to address its impact on human health worldwide. This review outlines how recent advances in gene editing technology, especially CRISPR/Cas9, unveil a breakthrough in combating antibiotic resistance. Our focus will remain on the relationship between CRISPR/cas9 and its impact on antibiotic resistance and its related infections. Moreover, the prospects of this new advanced research and the challenges of adopting these technologies against infections will be outlined by exploring its different derivatives and discussing their advantages and limitations over others, thereby providing a corresponding reference for the control and prevention of the spread of antibiotic resistance. | 2024 | 38994001 |
| 8161 | 7 | 0.9978 | Integrative strategies against multidrug-resistant bacteria: Synthesizing novel antimicrobial frontiers for global health. Concerningly, multidrug-resistant bacteria have emerged as a prime worldwide trouble, obstructing the treatment of infectious diseases and causing doubts about the therapeutic accidentalness of presently existing drugs. Novel antimicrobial interventions deserve development as conventional antibiotics are incapable of keeping pace with bacteria evolution. Various promising approaches to combat MDR infections are discussed in this review. Antimicrobial peptides are examined for their broad-spectrum efficacy and reduced ability to develop resistance, while phage therapy may be used under extreme situations when antibiotics fail. In addition, the possibility of CRISPR-Cas systems for specifically targeting and eradicating resistance genes from bacterial populations will be explored. Nanotechnology has opened up the route to improve the delivery system of the drug itself, increasing the efficacy and specificity of antimicrobial action while protecting its host. Discovering potential antimicrobial agents is an exciting prospect through developments in synthetic biology and the rediscovery of natural product-based medicines. Moreover, host-directed therapies are now becoming popular as an adjunct to the main strategies of therapeutics without specifically targeting pathogens. Although these developments appear impressive, questions about production scaling, regulatory approvals, safety, and efficacy for clinical employment still loom large. Thus, tackling the MDR burden requires a multi-pronged plan, integrating newer treatment modalities with existing antibiotic regimens, enforcing robust stewardship initiatives, and effecting policy changes at the global level. The international health community can gird itself against the growing menace of antibiotic resistance if collaboration between interdisciplinary bodies and sustained research endeavours is encouraged. In this study, we evaluate the synergistic potential of combining various medicines in addition to summarizing recent advancements. To rethink antimicrobial stewardship in the future, we provide a multi-tiered paradigm that combines pathogen-focused and host-directed strategies. | 2025 | 40914328 |
| 9474 | 8 | 0.9977 | Broadscale phage therapy is unlikely to select for widespread evolution of bacterial resistance to virus infection. Multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens are alarmingly on the rise, signaling that the golden age of antibiotics may be over. Phage therapy is a classic approach that often employs strictly lytic bacteriophages (bacteria-specific viruses that kill cells) to combat infections. Recent success in using phages in patient treatment stimulates greater interest in phage therapy among Western physicians. But there is concern that widespread use of phage therapy would eventually lead to global spread of phage-resistant bacteria and widespread failure of the approach. Here, we argue that various mechanisms of horizontal genetic transfer (HGT) have largely contributed to broad acquisition of antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations and species, whereas similar evolution of broad resistance to therapeutic phages is unlikely. The tendency for phages to infect only particular bacterial genotypes limits their broad use in therapy, in turn reducing the likelihood that bacteria could acquire beneficial resistance genes from distant relatives via HGT. We additionally consider whether HGT of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) immunity would thwart generalized use of phages in therapy, and argue that phage-specific CRISPR spacer regions from one taxon are unlikely to provide adaptive value if horizontally-transferred to other taxa. For these reasons, we conclude that broadscale phage therapy efforts are unlikely to produce widespread selection for evolution of bacterial resistance. | 2020 | 33365149 |
| 9175 | 9 | 0.9977 | Fitness Trade-Offs Resulting from Bacteriophage Resistance Potentiate Synergistic Antibacterial Strategies. Bacteria that cause life-threatening infections in humans are becoming increasingly difficult to treat. In some instances, this is due to intrinsic and acquired antibiotic resistance, indicating that new therapeutic approaches are needed to combat bacterial pathogens. There is renewed interest in utilizing viruses of bacteria known as bacteriophages (phages) as potential antibacterial therapeutics. However, critics suggest that similar to antibiotics, the development of phage-resistant bacteria will halt clinical phage therapy. Although the emergence of phage-resistant bacteria is likely inevitable, there is a growing body of literature showing that phage selective pressure promotes mutations in bacteria that allow them to subvert phage infection, but with a cost to their fitness. Such fitness trade-offs include reduced virulence, resensitization to antibiotics, and colonization defects. Resistance to phage nucleic acid entry, primarily via cell surface modifications, compromises bacterial fitness during antibiotic and host immune system pressure. In this minireview, we explore the mechanisms behind phage resistance in bacterial pathogens and the physiological consequences of acquiring phage resistance phenotypes. With this knowledge, it may be possible to use phages to alter bacterial populations, making them more tractable to current therapeutic strategies. | 2020 | 32094257 |
| 9190 | 10 | 0.9977 | Phage-based biocontrol strategies and their application in agriculture and aquaculture. Meeting global food demands for a growing human population with finite natural resources is a major challenge. Aquaculture and agriculture are critical to satisfy food requirements, yet suffer significant losses from bacterial diseases. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel antimicrobial strategies, which is heightened by increasing antibiotic resistance. Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that specifically infect bacteria, and phage-derived therapies are promising treatments in the fight against bacterial diseases. Here, we describe multiple ways that phages and phage-based technologies can be used as antimicrobials. Antimicrobial activity can be achieved through lysis of targeted bacteria by virulent phages or lytic enzymes. Alternatively, phages can be engineered for the delivery of lethal genes and other cargoes to kill bacteria and to manipulate the bacterial response to conventional antibiotics. We also briefly highlight research exploring phages as potential biocontrol agents with examples from agriculture and aquaculture. | 2018 | 30514766 |
| 9182 | 11 | 0.9977 | Harnessing CRISPR/Cas9 in engineering biotic stress immunity in crops. There is significant potential for CRISPR/Cas9 to be used in developing crops that can adapt to biotic stresses such as fungal, bacterial, viral, and pest infections and weeds. The increasing global population and climate change present significant threats to food security by putting stress on plants, making them more vulnerable to diseases and productivity losses caused by pathogens, pests, and weeds. Traditional breeding methods are inadequate for the rapid development of new plant traits needed to counteract this decline in productivity. However, modern advances in genome-editing technologies, particularly CRISPR/Cas9, have transformed crop protection through precise and targeted modifications of plant genomes. This enables the creation of resilient crops with improved resistance to pathogens, pests, and weeds. This review examines various methods by which CRISPR/Cas9 can be utilized for crop protection. These methods include knocking out susceptibility genes, introducing resistance genes, and modulating defense genes. Potential applications of CRISPR/Cas9 in crop protection involve introducing genes that confer resistance to pathogens, disrupting insect genes responsible for survival and reproduction, and engineering crops that are resistant to herbicides. In conclusion, CRISPR/Cas9 holds great promise for advancing crop protection and ensuring food security in the face of environmental challenges and increasing population pressures. The most recent advancements in CRISPR technology for creating resistance to bacteria, fungi, viruses, and pests are covered here. We wrap up by outlining the most pressing issues and technological shortcomings, as well as unanswered questions for further study. | 2025 | 40663257 |
| 8171 | 12 | 0.9977 | Advancements in CRISPR-Cas-based strategies for combating antimicrobial resistance. Multidrug resistance (MDR) in bacteria presents a significant global health threat, driven by the widespread dissemination of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs). The CRISPR-Cas system, known for its precision and adaptability, holds promise as a tool to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Although previous studies have explored the use of CRISPR-Cas to target bacterial genomes or plasmids harboring resistance genes, the application of CRISPR-Cas-based antimicrobial therapies is still in its early stages. Challenges such as low efficiency and difficulties in delivering CRISPR to bacterial cells remain. This review provides an overview of the CRISPR-Cas system, highlights recent advancements in CRISPR-Cas-based antimicrobials and delivery strategies for combating AMR. The review also discusses potential challenges for the future development of CRISPR-Cas-based antimicrobials. Addressing these challenges would enable CRISPR therapies to become a practical solution for treating AMR infections in the future. | 2025 | 40440869 |
| 8172 | 13 | 0.9977 | From resistance to remedy: the role of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats system in combating antimicrobial resistance-a review. The growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant and increasing risk to public health worldwide, necessitating innovative strategies to restore the efficacy of antibiotics. The precise genome-editing abilities of the CRISPR-Cas system have made it a potent instrument for directly targeting and eliminating antibiotic resistance genes. This review explored the mechanisms and applications of CRISPR-Cas systems in combating AMR. The latest developments in CRISPR technology have broadened its potential use, encompassing programmable antibacterial agents and improved diagnostic methods for antibiotic-resistant infections. Nevertheless, several challenges must be overcome for clinical success, including the survival of resistant bacteria, generation of anti-CRISPR proteins that reduce effectiveness, and genetic modifications that change target sequences. Additionally, the efficacy of CRISPR-Cas systems differs across bacterial species, making their universal application challenging. After overcoming these challenges, CRISPR-Cas has the potential to revolutionize AMR treatment, restore antibiotic efficacy, and reshape infection control. | 2025 | 39404843 |
| 9557 | 14 | 0.9977 | Antimicrobial Resistance Profile by Metagenomic and Metatranscriptomic Approach in Clinical Practice: Opportunity and Challenge. The burden of bacterial resistance to antibiotics affects several key sectors in the world, including healthcare, the government, and the economic sector. Resistant bacterial infection is associated with prolonged hospital stays, direct costs, and costs due to loss of productivity, which will cause policy makers to adjust their policies. Current widely performed procedures for the identification of antibiotic-resistant bacteria rely on culture-based methodology. However, some resistance determinants, such as free-floating DNA of resistance genes, are outside the bacterial genome, which could be potentially transferred under antibiotic exposure. Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches to profiling antibiotic resistance offer several advantages to overcome the limitations of the culture-based approach. These methodologies enhance the probability of detecting resistance determinant genes inside and outside the bacterial genome and novel resistance genes yet pose inherent challenges in availability, validity, expert usability, and cost. Despite these challenges, such molecular-based and bioinformatics technologies offer an exquisite advantage in improving clinicians' diagnoses and the management of resistant infectious diseases in humans. This review provides a comprehensive overview of next-generation sequencing technologies, metagenomics, and metatranscriptomics in assessing antimicrobial resistance profiles. | 2022 | 35625299 |
| 9440 | 15 | 0.9977 | The Case against Antibiotics and for Anti-Virulence Therapeutics. Although antibiotics have been indispensable in the advancement of modern medicine, there are downsides to their use. Growing resistance to broad-spectrum antibiotics is leading to an epidemic of infections untreatable by first-line therapies. Resistance is exacerbated by antibiotics used as growth factors in livestock, over-prescribing by doctors, and poor treatment adherence by patients. This generates populations of resistant bacteria that can then spread resistance genes horizontally to other bacterial species, including commensals. Furthermore, even when antibiotics are used appropriately, they harm commensal bacteria leading to increased secondary infection risk. Effective antibiotic treatment can induce bacterial survival tactics, such as toxin release and increasing resistance gene transfer. These problems highlight the need for new approaches to treating bacterial infection. Current solutions include combination therapies, narrow-spectrum therapeutics, and antibiotic stewardship programs. These mediate the issues but do not address their root cause. One emerging solution to these problems is anti-virulence treatment: preventing bacterial pathogenesis instead of using bactericidal agents. In this review, we discuss select examples of potential anti-virulence targets and strategies that could be developed into bacterial infection treatments: the bacterial type III secretion system, quorum sensing, and liposomes. | 2021 | 34683370 |
| 9141 | 16 | 0.9977 | Metallic Nanoparticles-Friends or Foes in the Battle against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria? The rapid spread of antibiotic resistances among bacteria demands novel strategies for infection control, and metallic nanoparticles appear as promising tools because of their unique size and tunable properties that allow their antibacterial effects to be maximized. Furthermore, their diverse mechanisms of action towards multiple cell components have suggested that bacteria could not easily develop resistance against nanoparticles. However, research published over the last decade has proven that bacteria can indeed evolve stable resistance mechanisms upon continuous exposure to metallic nanoparticles. In this review, we summarize the currently known individual and collective strategies employed by bacteria to cope with metallic nanoparticles. Importantly, we also discuss the adverse side effects that bacterial exposure to nanoparticles may have on antibiotic resistance dissemination and that might constitute a challenge for the implementation of nanoparticles as antibacterial agents. Overall, studies discussed in this review point out that careful management of these very promising antimicrobials is necessary to preserve their efficacy for infection control. | 2021 | 33673231 |
| 9581 | 17 | 0.9977 | Lateral gene transfer, bacterial genome evolution, and the Anthropocene. Lateral gene transfer (LGT) has significantly influenced bacterial evolution since the origins of life. It helped bacteria generate flexible, mosaic genomes and enables individual cells to rapidly acquire adaptive phenotypes. In turn, this allowed bacteria to mount strong defenses against human attempts to control their growth. The widespread dissemination of genes conferring resistance to antimicrobial agents has precipitated a crisis for modern medicine. Our actions can promote increased rates of LGT and also provide selective forces to fix such events in bacterial populations. For instance, the use of selective agents induces the bacterial SOS response, which stimulates LGT. We create hotspots for lateral transfer, such as wastewater systems, hospitals, and animal production facilities. Conduits of gene transfer between humans and animals ensure rapid dissemination of recent transfer events, as does modern transport and globalization. As resistance to antibacterial compounds becomes universal, there is likely to be increasing selection pressure for phenotypes with adverse consequences for human welfare, such as enhanced virulence, pathogenicity, and transmission. Improved understanding of the ecology of LGT could help us devise strategies to control this fundamental evolutionary process. | 2017 | 27706829 |
| 9484 | 18 | 0.9977 | Phage-antibiotic combinations: a promising approach to constrain resistance evolution in bacteria. Antibiotic resistance has reached dangerously high levels throughout the world. A growing number of bacteria pose an urgent, serious, and concerning threat to public health. Few new antibiotics are available to clinicians and only few are in development, highlighting the need for new strategies to overcome the antibiotic resistance crisis. Combining existing antibiotics with phages, viruses the infect bacteria, is an attractive and promising alternative to standalone therapies. Phage-antibiotic combinations have been shown to suppress the emergence of resistance in bacteria, and sometimes even reverse it. Here, we discuss the mechanisms by which phage-antibiotic combinations reduce resistance evolution, and the potential limitations these mechanisms have in steering microbial resistance evolution in a desirable direction. We also emphasize the importance of gaining a better understanding of mechanisms behind physiological and evolutionary phage-antibiotic interactions in complex in-patient environments. | 2021 | 33175408 |
| 6648 | 19 | 0.9976 | Multi-Drug Resistant Coliform: Water Sanitary Standards and Health Hazards. Water constitutes and sustains life; however, its pollution afflicts its necessity, further worsening its scarcity. Coliform is one of the largest groups of bacteria evident in fecally polluted water, a major public health concern. Coliform thrive as commensals in the gut of warm-blooded animals, and are indefinitely passed through their feces into the environment. They are also called as model organisms as their presence is indicative of the prevalence of other potential pathogens, thus coliform are and unanimously employed as adept indicators of fecal pollution. As only a limited accessible source of fresh water is available on the planet, its contamination severely affects its usability. Coliform densities vary geographically and seasonally which leads to the lack of universally uniform regulatory guidelines regarding water potability often leads to ineffective detection of these model organisms and the misinterpretation of water quality status. Remedial measures such as disinfection, reducing the nutrient concentration or re-population doesn't hold context in huge lotic ecosystems such as freshwater rivers. There is also an escalating concern regarding the prevalence of multi-drug resistance in coliforms which renders antibiotic therapy incompetent. Antimicrobials are increasingly used in household, clinical, veterinary, animal husbandry and agricultural settings. Sub-optimal concentrations of these antimicrobials are unintentionally but regularly dispensed into the environment through seepages, sewages or runoffs from clinical or agricultural settings substantially adding to the ever-increasing pool of antibiotic resistance genes. When present below their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), these antimicrobials trigger the transfer of antibiotic-resistant genes that the coliform readily assimilate and further propagate to pathogens, the severity of which is evidenced by the high Multiple Antibiotic Resistance (MAR) index shown by the bacterial isolates procured from the environmental. This review attempts to assiduously anthologize the use of coliforms as water quality standards, their existent methods of detection and the issue of arising multi-drug resistance in them. | 2018 | 29946253 |