DNA in antibiotic preparations: absence of intact resistance genes.

ABSTRACT: Fragments of erm(E2), otrA, and aph(6) shorter than 400 bp and producer strain-specific rRNA genes were amplified from various antibiotics. The amount of genetic material and the sizes of amplicons recovered from murine feces after oral administration of a beta-lactamase-encoding plasmid indicated substantial DNA degradation in the mammalian gastrointestinal tract. These observations imply that antibiotics are no major source for horizontal resistance gene transfer in clinical settings.

SUBMITTER: Woegerbauer M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1140494 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature