Maintaining resistance plasmids in bacteria generally requires a strong selective pressure such as a high concentration of an antibiotic. But new research by Gullberg et al. suggests that these selective pressures do not need to be strong to be effective; antibiotics and heavy metals at very low levels are sufficient to maintain a multiresistance plasmid. This could have serious implications for how environmental pollution and antibiotic treatment affect development of drug resistance.
Posted by Tim Sandle
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