Environmental factors influencing the development and spread of antibiotic resistance
Review article, 2018

Antibiotic resistance and its wider implications present us with a growing healthcare crisis. Recent research points to the environment as an important component for the transmission of resistant bacteria and in the emergence of resistant pathogens. However, a deeper understanding of the evolutionary and ecological processes that lead to clinical appearance of resistance genes is still lacking, as is knowledge of environmental dispersal barriers. This calls for better models of how resistance genes evolve, are mobilized, transferred and disseminated in the environment. Here, we attempt to define the ecological and evolutionary environmental factors that contribute to resistance development and transmission. Although mobilization of resistance genes likely occurs continuously, the great majority of such genetic events do not lead to the establishment of novel resistance factors in bacterial populations, unless there is a selection pressure for maintaining them or their fitness costs are negligible. To enable preventative measures it is therefore critical to investigate under what conditions and to what extent environmental selection for resistance takes place. In addition, understanding dispersal barriers is not only key to evaluate risks, but also to prevent resistant pathogens, as well as novel resistance genes, from reaching humans.

Horizontal gene transfer

Dissemination

Antimicrobial resistance

Fitness costs

Human health risks

Microbial ecology

Author

Johan Bengtsson-Palme

University of Gothenburg

Erik Kristiansson

Chalmers, Mathematical Sciences, Applied Mathematics and Statistics

University of Gothenburg

D. G. Joakim Larsson

University of Gothenburg

FEMS Microbiology Reviews

0168-6445 (ISSN) 15746976 (eISSN)

Vol. 42 1 68-80

Subject Categories

Evolutionary Biology

Infectious Medicine

Microbiology

DOI

10.1093/femsre/fux053

More information

Latest update

3/27/2018