One Earth: The Equilibrium between the Human and the Bacterial Worlds
Misuse and abuse of antibiotics on humans, cattle, and crops have led to the selection of multi-resistant pathogenic bacteria, the most feared ‘superbugs’. Infections caused by superbugs are progressively difficult to treat, with a subsequent increase in lethality: the toll on human lives is predict...
| Autores: | , , |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2023 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/338315 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/338315 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Antibiotic resistance Global regulators Horizontal gene transfer Mobilome Nichome One earth Resistome |
| Sumario: | Misuse and abuse of antibiotics on humans, cattle, and crops have led to the selection of multi-resistant pathogenic bacteria, the most feared ‘superbugs’. Infections caused by superbugs are progressively difficult to treat, with a subsequent increase in lethality: the toll on human lives is predicted to reach 10 million by 2050. Here we review three concepts linked to the growing resistance to antibiotics, namely (i) the <i>Resistome</i>, which refers to the collection of bacterial genes that confer resistance to antibiotics, (ii) the <i>Mobilome</i>, which includes all the mobile genetic elements that participate in the spreading of antibiotic resistance among bacteria by horizontal gene transfer processes, and (iii) the <i>Nichome</i>, which refers to the set of genes that are expressed when bacteria try to colonize new niches. We also discuss the strategies that can be used to tackle bacterial infections and propose an <i>entente cordiale</i> with the bacterial world so that instead of war and destruction of the ‘fierce enemy’ we can achieve a peaceful coexistence (the <i>One Earth</i> concept) between the human and the bacterial worlds. This, in turn, will contribute to microbial biodiversity, which is crucial in a globally changing climate due to anthropogenic activities. |
|---|