2009/02/20 by Hiroshi Nikaido · 5 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · Medicine · #Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria #Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts #Drug Transport and Resistance Mechanisms
paper · doi:10.1146/annurev.biochem.78.082907.145923
openalex publication_date 2009/02/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Large amounts of antibiotics used for human therapy, as well as for farm animals and even for fish in aquaculture, resulted in the selection of pathogenic bacteria resistant to multiple drugs. Multidrug resistance in bacteria may be generated by one of two mechanisms. First, these bacteria may accumulate multiple genes, each coding for resistance to a single drug, within a single cell. This accumulation occurs typically on resistance (R) plasmids. Second, multidrug resistance may also occur by the increased expression of genes that code for multidrug efflux pumps, extruding a wide range of drugs. This review discusses our current knowledge on the molecular mechanisms involved in both types of resistance.