title: Transfer of antibiotic-resistance genes via phage-related mobile elements.
abstract: Antibiotic resistance is a major concern for society because it threatens the effective prevention of infectious diseases. While some bacterial strains display intrinsic resistance, others achieve antibiotic resistance by mutation, by the recombination of foreign DNA into the chromosome or by horizontal gene acquisition. In many cases, these three mechanisms operate together. Several mobile genetic elements (MGEs) have been reported to mobilize different types of resistance genes and despite sharing common features, they are often considered and studied separately. Bacteriophages and phage-related particles have recently been highlighted as MGEs that transfer antibiotic resistance. This review focuses on phages, phage-related elements and on composite MGEs (phages-MGEs) involved in antibiotic resistance mobility. We review common features of these elements, rather than differences, and provide a broad overview of the antibiotic resistance transfer mechanisms observed in nature, which is a necessary first step to controlling them.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Maryury
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brown-Jaque
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Calero-Cáceres
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: mmuniesa@ub.edu.
authors.forename: Maite
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muniesa
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000235:genetics*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D020071:Interspersed Repetitive Sequences / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Antibiotic resistance; Bacteriophages; GTA; ICE; MGE