Gene cassettes are small mobile elements, consisting of little more than a single gene and recombination site, which are captured by larger elements called integrons. Several cassettes may be inserted into the same integron forming a tandem array. The discovery of integrons in the chromosome of many species has led to the identification of thousands of gene cassettes, mostly of unknown function...

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) plays a major role in bacterial microevolution as evident from the rapid emergence and spread of antimicrobial drug resistance. Few studies have however addressed the population dynamics of newly imported genetic elements after HGT. Here, we show that newly acquired class-1 integrons from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Acinetobacter baumannii, free of...

Antibiotic resistance among avian bacterial isolates is common and is of great concern to the poultry industry. Approximately 36% (n = 100) of avian, pathogenic Escherichia coli isolates obtained from diseased poultry exhibited multiple-antibiotic resistance to tetracycline, oxytetracycline, streptomycin, sulfonamides, and gentamicin. Clinical avian E. coli isolates were further screened for th...

The spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a growing problem and a public health issue. In recent decades, various genetic mechanisms involved in the spread of resistance genes among bacteria have been identified. Integrons - genetic elements that acquire, exchange, and express genes embedded within gene cassettes (GC) - are one of these mechanisms. Integrons are widely distributed, especia...

The ability of bacteria to procure, sometimes rearrange, and evince acquired DNA continues to impress us-even more so if this genetic plasticity involves the sequestering of antibiotic resistance genes. The acquisition of genes in bacteria is often facilitated by transposons, integrons and archetype insertion elements. Recently however, a new element, 'orf513', has been increasingly associated ...

Antibiotic susceptibility, detection of sul gene types and presence of class 1, 2 and 3 integrons and gene cassettes using PCR assays were investigated in 3456 Escherichia coli isolates obtained from 38 sampling sites of the Dongjiang River catchment in the dry and wet seasons. 89.1% of the isolates were resistant and 87.5% showed resistance to at least three antibiotics. sul2 was detected most...

Integrons are genetic elements capable of capturing and expressing open reading frames (ORFs) embedded within gene cassettes. They are involved in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in clinically important pathogens. Although the ARGs are common in the oral cavity the association of integrons and antibiotic resistance has not been reported there. In this work, a PCR-based a...

Background and Objective: Integrons play an essential role in disseminating drug resistance genes among bacteria. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of integrons, and Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) genes in Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolates collected from patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) referred to teaching hospitals in Ardabil, Iran. Materials and Method...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Antibiotic resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa remains a major problem in burn patients. The main objective of this study was to determine the antibiotic resistance pattern and frequency of class 1 integrons among P. aeruginosa strains isolated from patients with burn wound infections in a new Burn Centre in Guilan, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS The bacterial isolates...