title: Expanding the soil antibiotic resistome: exploring environmental diversity.
abstract: Antibiotic resistance has largely been studied in the context of failure of the drugs in clinical settings. There is now growing evidence that bacteria that live in the environment (e.g. the soil) are multi-drug-resistant. Recent functional screens and the growing accumulation of metagenomic databases are revealing an unexpected density of resistance genes in the environment: the antibiotic resistome. This challenges our current understanding of antibiotic resistance and provides both barriers and opportunities for antimicrobial drug discovery.
authors.affiliation: Antimicrobial Research Centre, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, 1200 Main St W, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5.
authors.forename: Vanessa M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: D'Costa
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Griffiths
authors.forename: Gerard D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D044822:Biodiversity; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D023281:Genomics; D010802:Phylogeny; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents