Drug resistance determinants in Herring Gulls ( Larus argentatus ) and human wastewater in Cape Cod

Antibiotic resistant bacteria pose a serious risk in human and veterinary medicine. In 2001, the World Health Organization identified drug resistance as a major threat to global health. Antimicrobial agents are powerful tools used by clinicians to treat bacterial infections, however, these drugs are losing their potency as microbial communities evolve methods to evade or destroy the antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance determinants are genes that code for proteins involved in the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. These resistance determinants are not specific to one particular organism, but can be shared between bacteria through horizontal gene transfer.

抗生素耐药细菌对人类医学和兽医学构成严重风险。2001年，世界卫生组织将耐药性确定为对全球健康的主要威胁。抗菌剂是临床医生用于治疗细菌感染的有力工具，然而，随着微生物群落进化出逃避或破坏抗生素的方法，这些药物正在失去效力。抗生素耐药决定因子是编码参与抗生素耐药机制的蛋白质的基因。这些耐药决定因子并非特定于某一种生物，而是可以通过水平基因转移在细菌之间共享。