Antimicrobial resistance: Molecular drivers and underlying mechanisms

Abstract

Ancient humans evaded lethal, tropical infections by migrating away from pathogen reservoirs to colder regions where the climate served as a physiological barrier to growth of pathogenic microorganisms. In the contemporary world, aversion of bacterial infections is being dominantly governed by a plethora of antimicrobial drugs which are deemed to be a boon to the society owning to their instant effectiveness, fewer stringent containment and transportation requirements, wider accessibility and economic feasibility. Nonetheless, antibiotic effectivity gradually declined as more microbes began evolving tolerance mechanisms (drug inactivation, drug efflux, drug target modification and more) against them. Invention of sensitive technologies paved way for fresh revelations including how conjugative plasmids in tandem with other mobile genetic elements (MGEs) contribute to the expansion of AMR gene pool. In this commentary, we revise the multifaceted processes associated with the origin (in microbial and human populations), advancement (antibiotic misuse, excessive use of antimicrobial resistance genes as selective markers in cloning pursuits) and dissemination of AMR, thereby, resolving confusions, unveiling new facts and targets that could lay the groundwork for novel therapies.