MRSA is the acronym for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Many of the strains of the common bacterium are also resistant to other antibiotics in use today. Resistance is linked to a collection of genes carried on plasmids that are passed on from bacterium to another by conjugation. Suppose a newly discovered, chemically different antibiotic is used in place of methicillin. What would be the most likely effect on Staphylococcus aureus antibiotic resistance?

Transmission of the methicillin-resistance plasmid would gradually decrease but the plasmid would not entirely disappear from the S. aureus population.

Question

Biology

Catalina Haley

8 April, 13:47

MRSA is the acronym for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Many of the strains of the common bacterium are also resistant to other antibiotics in use today. Resistance is linked to a collection of genes carried on plasmids that are passed on from bacterium to another by conjugation. Suppose a newly discovered, chemically different antibiotic is used in place of methicillin. What would be the most likely effect on Staphylococcus aureus antibiotic resistance?

Transmission of the methicillin-resistance plasmid would gradually decrease but the plasmid would not entirely disappear from the S. aureus population.

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Campbell · Answer 1

Transmission of the methicillin-resistance plasmid would gradually decrease but the plasmid would not entirely disappear from the Staphylococcus aureus population.

Explanation:

The main targets for antibiotics in staphylococci are the cell envelope, the ribosome and nucleic acids. Resistance can either develop by horizontal transfer or by mutations in chromosomal genes. Acquisition of resistance by mutation can result from alteration of the drug target.