Role Of IS26 In Antibiotic Resistance Gene Recruitment, Dissemination And Expression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$457,879.00
Summary
Antibiotic resistance is increasing, compromising the efficacy of front-line antibiotics. Untreatable infections due to bacteria that are resistant to all available antibiotics are being seen more often. To control the spread of resistance, an understanding of how resistance arises and is spread among bacteria is needed. This requires information about how the genetic elements that mobilize them work. This project will study one of the most important of these elements.
Interactions Between Integrative Genomic Islands And Plasmids; Role In The Spread And Loss Of Antibiotic Resistance And Pathogenicity Determinants
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$776,465.00
Summary
Mobile elements that integrate into bacterial chromosomes at a specific site contribute pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance determinants to their bacterial host but only a few are able to move themselves into new hosts. Some plasmids and some elements can help certain others. In this project, genetic approaches will be used to investigate how plasmids and integrative elements help one another move into a new bacterium or compete with one another to stay in the same cell.
Molecular Basis For Conjugative Transfer Of Antibiotic Resistance Genes In Gram Positive Pathogens
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$872,660.00
Summary
There has been growing concern about the increasing level of antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens. We will use a model genetic element to determine the mechanism by which an important class of pathogenic bacteria can acquire new resistance genes by a process known as horizontal gene transfer. The project will significantly enhance our understanding of how major hospital and community acquired pathogenic bacteria can rapidly evolve to become resistant to different antimicrobial agents.
The Mechanism Of Conjugative Transfer Of Antibiotic Resistance Genes In Gram Positive Pathogens
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$628,459.00
Summary
Antibiotic resistant bacteria pose a serious threat to the health of Australians. We will determine how antibiotic resistance genes spread from one bacterium to another. Using a disease-causing bacterium as model we will determine the mechanism by which this gene transfer process occurs and the structure and function of the key components. The result will be major advances in our understanding of the evolution of the antibiotic resistant bacteria that are major causes of human disease.
A remarkable feature of bacterial cells though is that they can share genes. In so doing bacteria have the ability to acquire completely new characteristics. One example of this spreading of genes is the rapid dissemination of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria and the creation of multi-resistant superbugs. This process contributes greatly to the problem of hospiatal acquired infeections and results in many patient deaths annually. The other aspect of this sharing of genes is that in a ....A remarkable feature of bacterial cells though is that they can share genes. In so doing bacteria have the ability to acquire completely new characteristics. One example of this spreading of genes is the rapid dissemination of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria and the creation of multi-resistant superbugs. This process contributes greatly to the problem of hospiatal acquired infeections and results in many patient deaths annually. The other aspect of this sharing of genes is that in a population some cells will lack genes that others have. Some of these shared genes apart from antibiotic resistance can be a concern and include traits that make some bacteria pathogenic. Thus, two cells of the same species may have very different abilities to cause disease based on what additional genes they carry. Genomics is becoming one of the great scientific revolutions of the 21st century. Over 160 microbial genomes have been sequenced to date and from these studies we have also learned many important things including how some bacteria cause disease. Mobile DNA presents unique challenges to microbial genomics however since different individuals in a species can have many different genes. Thus genomics on even many individuals of a species may miss bacterial genes important to us. Here we will be applying genomics in a way that specifically targets those genes that are shared. This will have many benefits. We will be able to greatly increase our rate of discovery of medically important and other genes in way that is targeted. This approach will allow us to discover these shared genes in a way that is much more cost effective and faster than conventional whole cell genomics. It will also allow us to gain an understanding of how benign bacteria associated with humans may act as reservoirs for passing on harmful genes to bacteria that cause hospital infections.Read moreRead less
Identifying Key Players In The Spread Of Antimicrobial Resistance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$817,448.00
Summary
Antibiotic drugs are essential to treat bacterial infections. However some bacteria have genes that allow them to resist certain drugs, which can be transferred among bacteria to create 'superbugs' that can resist nearly all the drugs we have. This project investigates the transfer of drug resistance genes between Gram negative bacteria (common agents of food poisoning, hospital infection, UTI, etc) and aims to identify the bacteria and genes most important in the spread of superbugs in Australi ....Antibiotic drugs are essential to treat bacterial infections. However some bacteria have genes that allow them to resist certain drugs, which can be transferred among bacteria to create 'superbugs' that can resist nearly all the drugs we have. This project investigates the transfer of drug resistance genes between Gram negative bacteria (common agents of food poisoning, hospital infection, UTI, etc) and aims to identify the bacteria and genes most important in the spread of superbugs in Australia.Read moreRead less
Molecular Epidemiology Of Antibiotic Resistant Salmonella Enterica Strains Causing Human Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$493,767.00
Summary
Salmonella infections are responsible for a substantial proportion of reported food poisoning cases caused by bacteria and many of these infections are due to antibiotic resistant strains. Infections caused by antibiotic resistant organisms are hard to treat and generally more severe, of longer duration, and result in longer hospital stays. These strains are mostly acquired from foods, e.g. meats, dairy products, poultry, eggs, and other contaminated food products but can also be derived from ot ....Salmonella infections are responsible for a substantial proportion of reported food poisoning cases caused by bacteria and many of these infections are due to antibiotic resistant strains. Infections caused by antibiotic resistant organisms are hard to treat and generally more severe, of longer duration, and result in longer hospital stays. These strains are mostly acquired from foods, e.g. meats, dairy products, poultry, eggs, and other contaminated food products but can also be derived from other sources. Salmonella strains harboured by food-producing animals are the source of most of the food contamination.Tracing the source of individual resistant strains is essential for eradication and as there are many Salmonella types, some of which are found associated only with specific animals or birds, accurate identification is needed. The proposed work will make this process more accurate by using molecular techniques to unequivocally establish suspected connections and reveal further ones that are difficult to discern using current data and methods. This should decrease the number of infections due to resistant strains.Read moreRead less
A New Mechanism For Transposition Of Antibiotic Resistance Genes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$501,839.00
Summary
Understanding how antibiotic resistance genes are acquired by bacteria is important if we are to understand how bacteria become resistant in so many antibiotics, limiting treatment options. This project will investigate the way a family of insertion sequences captures and then moves resistance genes. This mechanism contributes to resistance in many bacterial pathogens including ones that are resistant to many different antibiotics.
Pathways To Extensive And Pan Antibiotic Resistance In The Globally Disseminated Acinetobacter Baumannii GC2 Clone
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$865,004.00
Summary
The project will study the evolution of a Acinetobacter baumannii clone that is found all around the world, and has become resistant to most or all of the currently available antibiotics. Resistance has been acquired in a series of steps, and the resistance genes present and the events involved will be used to understand the globalization process. The increased understanding of resistance development should assist in controlling untreatable infections and in preserving antibiotics.
An Ace Up Their Sleeve: Characterisation Of A Novel Family Of Drug Efflux Systems Represented By The Acinetobacter AceI Exporter
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,286.00
Summary
Chlorhexidine is widely used as an antiseptic in products such as skin washes, soaps, mouthwashes, disinfectants and preservatives. We have recently discovered a novel bacterial protein which pumps chlorhexidine out of bacterial cells to make them resistant to this antiseptic agent. This proposal aims to understand this resistance mechanism and to find inhibitors which could be applied in clinical settings to augment the activity of chlorhexidine.