Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3-4
pubmed:dateCreated
1993-11-9
pubmed:abstractText
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.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0378-1135
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
35
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
257-67
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-11-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1993
pubmed:articleTitle
Evolution of resistance in microorganisms of human origin.
pubmed:affiliation
Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article