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Evolution of resistance to penicillin and cephalosporin antibiotics
Author(s) -
Normark Staffan,
Lindberg Frederik
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.950030107
Subject(s) - overproduction , plasmid , biology , cephalosporin , antibiotics , penicillin , gene , mutant , microbiology and biotechnology , cephalosporin antibiotic , bacteria , genetics , antibiotic resistance
Bacterial resistance mechanisms to the antibiotics known as β‐lactams, which include the penicillins and cephalosporins, can take several forms but frequently involve the production of β‐lactamases from either plasmid‐ or chromosomally‐encoded loci. Gram negative bacteria express a β‐lactamase from evolutionarily related chromosomal ampC genes. Genetic analysis of both inducible and constitutively expressed AmpC β‐lactamases provide insights into the mechanisms regulating production of the enzyme. Evolutionary relationships between the genes of different species are discussed, as well as the regulatory mechanisms that in both laboratory mutants and clinical isolates lead to overproduction of β‐lactamase.