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Review
. 2022 Jul 18:2022:3348695.
doi: 10.1155/2022/3348695. eCollection 2022.

The Spread of Antibiotic Resistance Genes In Vivo Model

Shuan Tao  1   2 , Huimin Chen  1 , Na Li  3 , Tong Wang  4 , Wei Liang  2
Affiliations
Review

The Spread of Antibiotic Resistance Genes In Vivo Model

Shuan Tao et al. Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol. .

Abstract

Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a major public health threat. The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment or clinical setting pose a serious threat to human and animal health worldwide. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of ARGs is one of the main reasons for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance in vitro and in vivo environments. There is a consensus on the role of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in the spread of bacterial resistance. Most drug resistance genes are located on plasmids, and the spread of drug resistance genes among microorganisms through plasmid-mediated conjugation transfer is the most common and effective way for the spread of multidrug resistance. Experimental studies of the processes driving the spread of antibiotic resistance have focused on simple in vitro model systems, but the current in vitro protocols might not correctly reflect the HGT of antibiotic resistance genes in realistic conditions. This calls for better models of how resistance genes transfer and disseminate in vivo. The in vivo model can better mimic the situation that occurs in patients, helping study the situation in more detail. This is crucial to develop innovative strategies to curtail the spread of antibiotic resistance genes in the future. This review aims to give an overview of the mechanisms of the spread of antibiotic resistance genes and then demonstrate the spread of antibiotic resistance genes in the in vivo model. Finally, we discuss the challenges in controlling the spread of antibiotic resistance genes and their potential solutions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
General ways of horizontal gene transfer. Conjugation, Transformation, Transduction, and Out membrane vesicles fusion. Yellow represents DNA fragments; blue represents conjugation elements (ICEs); orange represents membrane vesicles (MV).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The mechanism of type II CRISPR-Cas system (a) and type II restriction-modification system (b).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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