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Dissecting the effects of antibiotics on horizontal gene transfer: Analysis suggests a critical role of selection dynamics.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Lopatkin, AJ; Sysoeva, TA; You, L
Published in: BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology
December 2016

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a major mechanism responsible for the spread of antibiotic resistance. Conversely, it is often assumed that antibiotics promote HGT. Careful dissection of the literature, however, suggests a lack of conclusive evidence supporting this notion in general. This is largely due to the lack of well-defined quantitative experiments to address this question in an unambiguous manner. In this review, we discuss the extent to which HGT is responsible for the spread of antibiotic resistance and examine what is known about the effect of antibiotics on the HGT dynamics. We focus on conjugation, which is the dominant mode of HGT responsible for spreading antibiotic resistance on the global scale. Our analysis reveals a need to design experiments to quantify HGT in such a way to facilitate rigorous data interpretation. Such measurements are critical for developing novel strategies to combat resistance spread through HGT.

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Published In

BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology

DOI

EISSN

1521-1878

ISSN

0265-9247

Publication Date

December 2016

Volume

38

Issue

12

Start / End Page

1283 / 1292

Related Subject Headings

  • Gene Transfer, Horizontal
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial
  • Developmental Biology
  • Bacteria
  • 31 Biological sciences
  • 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
  • 11 Medical and Health Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
 

Citation

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Lopatkin, A. J., Sysoeva, T. A., & You, L. (2016). Dissecting the effects of antibiotics on horizontal gene transfer: Analysis suggests a critical role of selection dynamics. BioEssays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, 38(12), 1283–1292. https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201600133
Lopatkin, Allison J., Tatyana A. Sysoeva, and Lingchong You. “Dissecting the effects of antibiotics on horizontal gene transfer: Analysis suggests a critical role of selection dynamics.BioEssays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology 38, no. 12 (December 2016): 1283–92. https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201600133.
Lopatkin AJ, Sysoeva TA, You L. Dissecting the effects of antibiotics on horizontal gene transfer: Analysis suggests a critical role of selection dynamics. BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology. 2016 Dec;38(12):1283–92.
Lopatkin, Allison J., et al. “Dissecting the effects of antibiotics on horizontal gene transfer: Analysis suggests a critical role of selection dynamics.BioEssays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, vol. 38, no. 12, Dec. 2016, pp. 1283–92. Epmc, doi:10.1002/bies.201600133.
Lopatkin AJ, Sysoeva TA, You L. Dissecting the effects of antibiotics on horizontal gene transfer: Analysis suggests a critical role of selection dynamics. BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology. 2016 Dec;38(12):1283–1292.
Journal cover image

Published In

BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology

DOI

EISSN

1521-1878

ISSN

0265-9247

Publication Date

December 2016

Volume

38

Issue

12

Start / End Page

1283 / 1292

Related Subject Headings

  • Gene Transfer, Horizontal
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial
  • Developmental Biology
  • Bacteria
  • 31 Biological sciences
  • 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
  • 11 Medical and Health Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences