Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance Genes among Human Gut-Derived Bifidobacteria.

ABSTRACT: The microbiota of the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) may regularly be exposed to antibiotics, which are used to prevent and treat infectious diseases caused by bacteria and fungi. Bacterial communities of the gut retain a reservoir of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes, and antibiotic therapy thus positively selects for those microorganisms that harbor such genetic features, causing microbiota modulation. During the first months following birth, bifidobacteria represent some of the most dominant components of the human gut microbiota, although little is known about their AR gene complement (or resistome). In the current study, we assessed the resistome of the Bifidobacterium genus based on phenotypic and genotypic data of members that represent all currently recognized bifidobacterial (s

SUBMITTER: Duranti S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5244288 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature