ABSTRACT β-Lactamases, the major resistance determinant for β-lactam antibiotics in Gram-
negative bacteria, are ancient enzymes whose origins can be traced back millions of years …

Antibiotics are powerful drugs used in the treatment of bacterial infections. The inappropriate
use of these medicines has driven the dissemination of antibiotic resistance (AR) in most …

Horizontal gene transfer is an important evolutionary force, facilitating bacterial diversity. It is
thought to be pervasive in host-associated microbiomes, where bacterial densities are high …

The prevalence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) among clinical isolates of
Escherichia coli has been increasing, with this spread driven by ESBL-encoding plasmids …

The rapid dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) around the globe is largely due to
mobile genetic elements, such as plasmids. They confer resistance to critically important …

The global dissemination of plasmids encoding antibiotic resistance represents an urgent
issue for human health and society. While the fitness costs for host cells associated with …

Despite a fitness cost imposed on bacterial hosts, large conjugative plasmids play a key role
in the diffusion of resistance determinants, such as CTX-M extended-spectrum β …

Epidemiological surveys have shown that carbapenem resistance is mainly transmitted
across species by carbapenemase genes located on conjugative plasmids. As …

Bacterial conjugation systems pose a major threat to human health through their widespread
dissemination of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) carrying cargoes of antibiotic resistance …

Transferable plasmids play a critical role in shaping the functions of microbial communities.
Previous studies suggested multiple mechanisms underlying plasmid persistence and …