Bacteria Pick Up Genes for Antibiotic Resistance

Scientists have confirmed their suspicions that a strain of hospital bacteria Staphylococcus aureus acquired resistance to the powerful drug vancomycin from another species of bacteria also commonly found in hospitals.

Mobile DNA: Genomic Studies Illuminate Antibiotic Resistance

In September 2002, a patient with a chronic foot ulcer checked into a Pennsylvania hospital. Doctors later discovered that the ulcer contained Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, one of the most common causes of hospital infections.

Mutant Bacteria and the Failure of Antibiotics

Hospitals have germs. And germs have a remarkable ability to develop resistance to the antibiotics we rely on to kill them. These facts are well known to the medical community and have been a source of great concern for years. A number of books and articles for both the lay reader and the professional have been written on the subject, each in its way raising a red flag that says, in one way on another, we have to control the use of antibiotics less we lose them to smart bacteria that learn to become immune to their toxic effects.

Resistant bacterium modifies its genome to cause infection

Scientists have identified a virulence region never seen before in the genome of Enterococcus faecalis—a leading cause of bacterial infection among hospital patients. This bacterium lives peacefully in the human gut, but it also thrives on wounds and burns. The researchers identified a group of genes that may contribute to the bacterium's transformation from a harmless gut homebody to a menacing invader.

Medicinal microbe Streptomyces coelicolor is sequenced

Scientists have sequenced one of medicine's most important microbes, the bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor. It belongs to a family of bacteria—known as streptomycetes—that produces most of the natural antibiotics in use today, including tetracycline and erythromycin; streptomycetes also produce natural anti-cancer and immune-suppressing compounds. The S. coelicolor sequence is a new tool for researchers trying to develop pharmaceuticals through the genetic engineering of bacteria.

Novel screen for antibiotics uses bacteria near death

To meet the growing need for improved antibiotics, scientists a few years ago began to develop a drug-screening method based on arrays of genetically modified bacteria. That method, they now report, can be used to rapidly identify compounds that kill bacteria by inhibiting targets inside the bacterial cell.

US strep outbreak involves drug-resistant bacteria

A recent outbreak of streptococcal throat infections in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, involved bacteria that are resistant to erythromycin, a drug used to treat sore throats. Nearly half of the 'group A' Streptococcus (GAS) bacteria analyzed by researchers had developed resistance to the drug. GAS bacteria cause strep throat, rheumatic fever, and other infections.

Antibiotics from a microbe

Japanese researchers have reported the genome sequence of Streptomyces avermitilis, a free-living bacterium that grows in the soil. The bacterium is commercially important for human and veterinary medicine because it is one of the main producers of antibiotics. The sequencing revealed many genes involved in producing natural antibiotics that reside in clusters near both ends of the linear-shaped chromosome. These gene clusters interest researchers because understanding the antibiotic-producing mechanism could help generate novel drugs and slow down antibiotic resistance.

Variations in the penA gene of Neisseria meningitidis increases penicillin resistance

In many countries, penicillin is no longer the invincible treatment for infections like meningitis and septicaemia. Now, European researchers have linked the declining efficacy of the antibiotic to mutations in the penA gene in Neisseria meningitidis, the bacterium behind these meningococcal infections.

We Are Not Alone: Harnessing the Invisible World of Microbes Within Us

Americans are compulsive about eradicating bacteria. They obsessively spray their homes, load their soaps with anti-microbial chemicals and insist upon antibiotics for almost any ailment. There are even fibers containing antibacterial agents for the ultimate purpose of creating germ-free socks and other apparel! But attitudes toward microbes may change as scientists explore a new route for gene therapy by using bacteria to deliver therapeutic genes.

Directed evolution predicts antibiotic resistance

Researchers have used 'directed evolution'—a series of laboratory techniques for modifying DNA that mimics natural evolution—to predict genetic mutations that lead to antibiotic resistance.

Battling Bacterial Resistance—Shooting for the Genes

As scientists all over the world worry about how to turn the rising tide of antibiotic resistance among bacteria, a Danish team is joining the battle with a new strategy. They are hitting the microbes in their genes and the weapon of choice is called PNA.

Genes and Antibiotic Resistance

With a pivotal study in the battle against antibiotic resistance, scientists at The Rockefeller University in New York have identified a pair of genes governing penicillin resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae. The findings, published in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest novel targets against the bacteria that may give new life to penicillin as a tool against infection.