The rise of antibiotic resistance in many pathogens has been driven by the spread of a small number of strains, suggesting that some bacteria may be genetically pre-disposed to evolving resistance.
Researchers at Oxford University have tested this hypothesis by quantifying differences in evolvability between pathogen strains and by searching for ‘potentiator’ genes that accelerate the evolution of resistance. Their results are published today in Nature Communications.
Scientists from the Department of Zoology, Oxford University, show that a single gene that codes for an efflux pump predisposes some strains of pathogenic S.aureus to evolve high levels of ciprofloxacin resistance.
