Antibiotic resistance is a significant clinical problem, with bacterial infections becoming increasingly difficult to treat. Efforts, such as reducing the use of antibiotics, have proved unsuccessful, and we now face the prospect of a future without antibiotics. The natural environment acts as a reservoir for resistance genes. The selection and maintenance of resistance could counteract clinical efforts to reduce antibiotic resistance. Heavy metals have been linked to antibiotic resistance by genetic mechanisms whereby metals potentially select for and maintain antibiotic resistance, even in the absence of the antibiotic itself. Here, the role of heavy metals in enhancing, or maintaining, antibiotic resistance in the environment is investigated. Background levels of metals in soil were found to correlate to antibiotic resistance gene abundances, implying the effect heavy metals in the environment have on antibiotic resistance is more intrinsic than anticipated. Using controlled microcosm studies, the influence of pollution levels on antibiotic resistance was further investigated.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:632709 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | McCluskey, Seánín Marie |
| Publisher | University of Strathclyde |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://oleg.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=24354 |
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