Angela Battaglia

English 202C

3/23/2015

How do bacteria become antibiotic resistant?

Why does antibiotic resistance matter to you?
With every person or animal that takes antibiotics, the bacteria that are susceptible
to that drug are killed, leaving only the resistant bacteria behind. These resistant
bacteria can then pass along their resistance via horizontal and vertical gene
transfer, making the antibiotics less effective overall. This can lead to the evolution
of multidrug resistant bacteria, sometimes called superbugs. The more antibiotics to
which these bacteria are resistant, the less likely they are to be cured. Instead these
bacteria can quickly be passed amongst the population, infecting and killing people
and leaving us with no way to stop them.

What are bacteria?

Bacteria are single-celled organisms that are normally found inside our bodies as
well as all around us. Most bacteria are harmless, or even beneficial to the human
body. However, some bacteria are pathogens, or disease-causing organisms that can
cause infection and illness when they are introduced into the human body.

What are antibiotics?

Antibiotics are drugs that can treat bacterially-caused infections. They can be
natural, semi-synthetic, or synthetic. However, not all types of antibiotics are
effective against all types of bacteria. Bacteria can also develop resistance to
antibiotics. This means that antibiotics that would have previously cured an
infection will no longer kill the infection-causing bacteria. To become resistant to a
certain antibiotic, bacteria need an antibiotic resistance gene specific for that type of
antibiotic. These genes can sometimes come from random mutations, but are more
often passed from one bacterium to another. There are two main methods by which
bacteria can acquire antibiotic resistance: vertical gene transfer and horizontal gene
transfer.

What is Vertical Gene Transfer?

Vertical gene transfer is a form of obtaining antibiotic resistance in which the
resistance genes are passed vertically from parent to offspring. Bacteria usually
reproduce asexually so that their offspring are direct clones of themselves. Thus, if a

parent bacterium has an antibiotic resistance gene, its offspring will also have it.
However, this is a less prevalent mode of obtaining resistance genes than horizontal
gene transfer.

Vertical Gene Transfer

Parent Cell

image adapted from:

http://upload.wikimedia.org
/wikipedia/commons/3/34/
Horizontal_and_vertical_gen
e_transfer.png

Offspring

What is Horizontal Gene Transfer?

Horizontal gene transfer is a way to obtain antibiotic resistance in which genes are
passed directly from one bacterium to another. Here, genetic material is passed
amongst individuals of the same generation instead of from one generation to the
next. Through horizontal gene transfer, genes can be quickly spread through a
whole community of bacteria without reproduction ever occurring. Horizontal gene
transfer can occur in three main ways: transformation, conjugation, and
transduction.

Bacteria

Horizontal Gene Transfer

image adapted from:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/3/34/Horizontal_and_vertical_
gene_transfer.png

How does transformation work?

Transformation is a type of horizontal gene transfer in which a bacterium
absorbs stray genetic material from its surrounding and incorporates that
material into its own DNA sequence. Bacteria have to enter a special state
called competence in order to undergo transformation, and they will usually
only accept DNA of the same species.
How does conjugation work?
Conjugation is a type of horizontal gene transfer in which resistance is
transferred from one bacterium to another via a plasmid. A plasmid is a small
circular piece of DNA that is separate from the bacterias chromosomal DNA.
For a plasmid to be transferred, bacteria need to either be touching each
other or be connected by means of a cell-to-cell bridge called a pilus. Once
the cells are connected, the plasmid will move towards the point of
connection and a new copy of the plasmid will be created by DNA
polymerase so that each cell can have its own copy. The cells then disconnect
from one another, now each possessing the ability to pass on plasmids to
new bacteria. Conjugation is the most common means by which antibacterial
resistance genes are passed from one cell to the next.
Chromosomal DNA

Chromosomal DNA

Plasmid

Conjugation

Pilus

image adapted from:

http://commons.wikimedia.
org/wiki/File:Conjugation.sv
g#/media/File:Conjugation.s
vg

DNA Polymerase

Plasmid

Pilus

Pilus

How does transduction work?

Transduction is a type of horizontal gene transfer in which resistance is
transferred from one bacterium to another via a virus. In transduction, the
virus first injects genetic material into the cell. From here the cell can enter
3

one of two cycles, the lysogenic and lytic cycles. In the lysogenic cycle, the cell
puts the DNA from the virus into the bacterias genome and then cell
functions continue as normal. However in the lytic cycle, the bacteria is
essentially hijacked by the virus and used to make many new copies of the
virus before it destroys the cell by bursting it open. In the case of antibiotic
resistance, the lysogenic cycle is more useful as it allows new genetic
material to be transferred to the bacteria without the bacteria being
destroyed in the process.

What can you do to stop antibiotic resistance?

Antibiotic resistance is an increasingly pressing public health concern. Luckily there
are ways that everyone can take steps to help stop the spread of antibiotic
resistance. It is most important to remember that antibiotics only kill bacteria; they
are utterly ineffective against viruses like the common cold or the flu. Therefore, it is
not wise to pressure doctors into prescribing antibiotics when they are not needed.
If an infection is present and antibiotics are needed, it is important to follow the
entire regimen and take all of the pills in the bottle. This will decrease the risk of a
secondary, antibiotic-resistant infection. It is also helpful to decrease exposure to
antibiotics in day to day life by only eating antibiotic-free meat and reducing the use
of antibacterial products like antibacterial soap or antibacterial wipes. Following all
of these steps will help to decrease the spread of antibiotic resistance and keep
everyone healthier in the long run.