Since the first introduction of antibiotics into clinical practice, microbial drug resistance has emerged as a major obstacle in the treatment of infections. Recently, the combination of emergence of a complex variety of multidrug resistant strains and the dearth of newly discovered molecules to effectively target and eliminate these strains, has made antibiotic resistance one of the major public health problems of this century.
Different strategies can be adopted to contain the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance, including (i) antimicrobial stewardship, (ii) infection control, and (iii) tighter control over the use of antibiotics in agriculture and breeding. However, a better understanding of the dynamics that lead to the evolution of antibiotic resistance is essential for the development of more efficient strategies to combat this phenomenon. The recent developments in genomics have greatly contributed to our increased knowledge of the mechanisms of microbial resistance, and of the processes by which they emerge, develop and spread. Different approaches and expertise can be used to accelerate advances in this area, ranging from clinical studies on the evolution of resistance in vivo, to theoretical modeling and the study of evolution in the laboratory.
The aim of this of Research topic is to enhance our understanding of the different aspects of evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance which include, but are not limited to the following topics:
1. The reconstruction of the evolution and spread of known mechanisms of antibiotic resistance.
2. The study of the evolution of resistance mechanisms in hospital environment or during infection or colonization.
3. Emergence of novel antibiotic resistance mechanisms.
4. Direct evolution experiments.
5. Studies on the cost of antibiotic resistance fitness.
6. Genomic epidemiology of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
7. Detection of resistance genes as a surrogate for antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
Since the first introduction of antibiotics into clinical practice, microbial drug resistance has emerged as a major obstacle in the treatment of infections. Recently, the combination of emergence of a complex variety of multidrug resistant strains and the dearth of newly discovered molecules to effectively target and eliminate these strains, has made antibiotic resistance one of the major public health problems of this century.
Different strategies can be adopted to contain the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance, including (i) antimicrobial stewardship, (ii) infection control, and (iii) tighter control over the use of antibiotics in agriculture and breeding. However, a better understanding of the dynamics that lead to the evolution of antibiotic resistance is essential for the development of more efficient strategies to combat this phenomenon. The recent developments in genomics have greatly contributed to our increased knowledge of the mechanisms of microbial resistance, and of the processes by which they emerge, develop and spread. Different approaches and expertise can be used to accelerate advances in this area, ranging from clinical studies on the evolution of resistance in vivo, to theoretical modeling and the study of evolution in the laboratory.
The aim of this of Research topic is to enhance our understanding of the different aspects of evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance which include, but are not limited to the following topics:
1. The reconstruction of the evolution and spread of known mechanisms of antibiotic resistance.
2. The study of the evolution of resistance mechanisms in hospital environment or during infection or colonization.
3. Emergence of novel antibiotic resistance mechanisms.
4. Direct evolution experiments.
5. Studies on the cost of antibiotic resistance fitness.
6. Genomic epidemiology of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
7. Detection of resistance genes as a surrogate for antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
