Antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance Resistance of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, parasites) to antimicrobials is one of the most important public health problems. Infection with enterobacteria is treated with antibiotics from four groups (beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, tetracyclins and fluorquinolones). The main resistance mechanisms against these molecules are enzymatic degradation, efflux, inhibition of the drug's binding reaction, or usage of a back up pathway. Resistance against antiseptics and disinfectants is conferred by efflux proteins, biofilm formation or modification of targets (reviewed in Tong et al., 2021). Resistance mechanisms are either acquired by mutation, by horizontal gene transfer, or are already intrinsic to the organism. Participation of the organism in a consortium (like in biofilms) enables additional resistance mechanisms (reviewed in van Acker et al. 2014; van Acker & Coenye 2016; Alav et al., 2021; Aminov & Mackie 2007; Doi et al., 2016; Peterson & Kaur 2018; Urban-Chmiel et al., 2022).