Biochemistry & Pharmacology: Open Access
Open Access

Ana Martins

Publications

• Research Article
  Sequential Responses of Bacteria to Noxious Agents (Antibiotics) Leading To Accumulation of Mutations and Permanent Resistance
  
  Author(s): Ana Martins, Gabriella Spengler, Joseph Molnar and Leonard Amaral Ana Martins, Gabriella Spengler, Joseph Molnar and Leonard Amaral
  
  Bacteria have the capacity, as all living cells, to escape harm from a noxious agent by extruding the agent before it reaches its target and harms to the cell. This initial response is intrinsic and involves plasma membrane bound efflux pumps which have the capacity to recognise and extrude a large variety of structurally unrelated molecules. When the concentration of the agent is progressively increased, the number of efflux pumps is also progressively increased as a consequence of over-expression of genes that regulate and code for the synthesis of these pumps. Often, when the bacterium is transferred to drug free medium, the number of pump units returns to baseline levels. However, when the concentration of agent is maintained over a prolonged period of time, mutations in genes that code for essential proteins which are usual targets of antibiotics, begin to accumulate and the expr.. View More»
  DOI: 10.4172/2167-0501.1000104

  Abstract

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