Integrons as emerging contaminants facilitating the widespread of antimicrobial resistance in Enterobacteriaceae

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are classified as emerging environmental pollutants of global public health concern. These ARGs are disseminated through genetic elements such as integrons. Integrons can acquire, integrate, and express various rearrangeable gene cassettes (GCs), harboring different ARGs that may be readily spread to other bacteria in widely varied niches. Different classes of integrons possessing diverse arrays of ARGs located within its GCs are commonly distributed in the Enterobacteriaceae family and are responsible for the high rate of multidrug resistance observed. The members of this family are natural commensals of the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and animals released into the different aquatic environments. Various water sources further disseminate the organisms and their diverse resistance gene repertoires. Thus, understanding the distribution and diversity of the significant integron classes in the clinically relevant Enterobacteriaceae members will be of utmost importance. It will provide a framework for health authorities to make decisions on surveillance of these contaminants in the environment.

Keywords

• antibiotic resistance genes
• enterobacteriaceae
• gene cassettes
• integrases
• integrons