A hospital technician, while doing some routine culturing of microorganisms in a lab, noticed a bact

Question

A hospital technician, while doing some routine culturing of microorganisms in a lab, noticed a bacterial colony growing on a culture medium containing three different antibiotics. He identified the bacterium as one that did not cause a human disease, but he still reported his observation to the hospital administration. He was worried because\

Professor PC Thomas Classes · Answer

(b) : More and more bacteria are becoming resistant to common antibiotics. A large proportion of gene transfer between bacteria takes place with the aid of conjugative plasmids, a part of the bacterial DNA. A plasmid can exist and multiply inside a cell, by using cell's machinery, but can then be transferred to another cell and in that way spread between bacteria. Genetically, antibiotic resistance spreads through bacterial population both "vertically," when new generations inherit antibiotic resistance genes, and "horizontally", when bacteria share or exchange sections of genetic material with other bacteria. Horizontal gene transfer can even occur between different bacterial species. Environmentally, antibiotic resistance spreads as bacteria themselves move from place to place; bacteria can travel via air and water. People can also pass the resistant bacteria to others; e.g., by coughing or contact with unwashed hands.