Hello there, I was wondering if I can talk to anybody who is doing research into new antibiotics for a project I am working on for school? the topic is why are the best antibiotics not effective against superbugs? If there is anybody that is doing current research, may I please ask for an appointment to ask a few questions?
Thank you
Reese Razo
I fully agree with Dr. Joachim Pimiskern and Dr. Abhijeet Singh Bacteria have mobile or mobilizable elements, e.g. classic transposons, insertion sequences, and integrons bearing gene cassettes, which help spread antibiotic resistance. Hypothetically, bacteria can adapt to new determinants, for example, to membrane-embedded antibiotic efflux pumps, by rearranging membrane structures in such a way that they will be compatible and interact with the new acquisition or a number of other genes may need to change in order to effect full expression of a new gene, e.g. mecA in Staphylococci. Selection and spread of resistance of a certain antibiotic by other antibiotics, i.e. the co-selection process, can also account for the maintenance of resistance to a particular antibiotic, even if its use has been discontinued. Multiple resistance genes are frequently found on the same plasmid or transposon and therefore the use of any of the antibiotics would select for resistance to all the others. Resistance can also be maintained by non-antibiotic selective pressures, but the extent to which these environmental factors impact resistance is not fully known. While antibiotics appear to be the central element in selecting resistant bacteria, they are not wholly responsible for the persistence and spread of them once selected. The selection event (forward reaction) is clearly the most important one, which fosters resistant bacteria of different genotypes and phenotypes in the environment. But once selected, the resistant strains can ‘take on a life of their own in response to other selection and maintenance factors in the absence of antibiotics. This makes the reversal of resistance (backward reaction) more difficult to achieve. The attached RG links are for my MSC thesis and a book that may contain useful information about this thread:
Thesis Isolation and identification of methicillin resistant staphy...
Book Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus As A Superbug Fo...
I guess there are many simple articles which can be helpful to get understanding of the topics.
You can look for the antibiotics resistant genes (AGRs), and ARGs is the answer to your question.
Superbugs have a variety of defenses which are rapidly evolving. For example, bacteria can fortify their cell walls against antibiotica. Or they can break down consumed antibiotica enzymatically. Or they can remove antibiotica from the cell with so-called efflux-pumps. Or they can regulate their metabolism down until conditions get better - as long they're asleep they can't ingest poison. Bacteria have mechanisms to share (evolved) genes throughout a colony, like vesicles, tubules, cannibalism.
Regards,
Joachim
I fully agree with Dr. Joachim Pimiskern and Dr. Abhijeet Singh Bacteria have mobile or mobilizable elements, e.g. classic transposons, insertion sequences, and integrons bearing gene cassettes, which help spread antibiotic resistance. Hypothetically, bacteria can adapt to new determinants, for example, to membrane-embedded antibiotic efflux pumps, by rearranging membrane structures in such a way that they will be compatible and interact with the new acquisition or a number of other genes may need to change in order to effect full expression of a new gene, e.g. mecA in Staphylococci. Selection and spread of resistance of a certain antibiotic by other antibiotics, i.e. the co-selection process, can also account for the maintenance of resistance to a particular antibiotic, even if its use has been discontinued. Multiple resistance genes are frequently found on the same plasmid or transposon and therefore the use of any of the antibiotics would select for resistance to all the others. Resistance can also be maintained by non-antibiotic selective pressures, but the extent to which these environmental factors impact resistance is not fully known. While antibiotics appear to be the central element in selecting resistant bacteria, they are not wholly responsible for the persistence and spread of them once selected. The selection event (forward reaction) is clearly the most important one, which fosters resistant bacteria of different genotypes and phenotypes in the environment. But once selected, the resistant strains can ‘take on a life of their own in response to other selection and maintenance factors in the absence of antibiotics. This makes the reversal of resistance (backward reaction) more difficult to achieve. The attached RG links are for my MSC thesis and a book that may contain useful information about this thread:
Thesis Isolation and identification of methicillin resistant staphy...
Book Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus As A Superbug Fo...
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