Metallo-β-lactamases are bacterial enzymes that provide resistance to carbapenems, the most potent class of antibiotics, Professor Kristiansson and colleagues said.
These enzymes are commonly encoded on mobile genetic elements, which, together with their broad substrate spectrum and lack of clinically useful inhibitors, make them a particularly problematic class of antibiotic resistance determinants.
It was hypothesized that there is a large and unexplored reservoir of unknown Metallo-β-lactamases, some of which may spread to pathogens, thereby threatening public health.
The aim of the study was to identify new Metallo-β-lactamases of Class B1, the most clinically important subclass of these enzymes.
The study shows that there are lots of unknown resistance genes. Knowledge about these genes makes it possible to more effectively find and hopefully tackle new forms of multi-resistant bacteria, Professor Kristiansson said.
The more we know about how bacteria can defend themselves against antibiotics, the better are our odds for developing effective new drugs, added study co-author Professor Joakim Larsson, from the University of Gothenburg.
The next step for the team is to search for genes that provide resistance to other forms of antibiotics
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