Antibiotic resistance in agriculture: Perspectives on upcoming strategies to overcome upsurge in resistance

• Published in: Current research in microbial sciences Vol. 2; p. 100030
• Main Authors: Mann, Avantika, Nehra, Kiran, Rana, J.S., Dahiya, Twinkle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.12.2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agriculture; Antibiotic cycling; Antibiotic resistance; Livestock; Molecular strategies; Review; Agriculture; Livestock; Molecular strategies; Antibiotic cycling; Antibiotic resistance
• ISSN: 2666-5174; 2666-5174
• DOI: 10.1016/j.crmicr.2021.100030

•Antibiotics are used extensively in agriculture, livestock and in animal husbandry.•In agriculture, these are used to increase crop productivity; in animal husbandry and livestock to treat sick animals and as growth promoters in animal feed at controlled concentrations.•Bacteria are able to modify their genes under stress conditions by different mechanisms, and the resistance genes are cycled among agricultural soils and other different ecosystems through nutrient cycling.•A number of significant molecular strategies have been proposed to reduce the occurrence of antibiotic resistance in bacterial genomes . Antibiotic resistance is a massive problem rising constantly and spreading rapidly since the past decade. The major underlying mechanism responsible for this problem is an overuse or severe misuse of antibiotics. Regardless of this emerging global threat, antibiotics are still being widely used, not only for treatment of human infections, but also to a great extent in agriculture, livestock and animal husbandry. If the current scenario persists, we might enter into a post-antibiotic era where drugs might not be able to treat even the simplest of infections. This review discusses the current status of antibiotic utilization and molecular basis of antibiotic resistance mechanisms acquired by bacteria, along with the modes of transmittance of the resultant resistant genes into human pathogens through their cycling among different ecosystems. The main focus of the article is to provide an insight into the different molecular and other strategies currently being studied worldwide for their use as an alternate to antibiotics with an overall aim to overcome or minimize the global problem of antibiotic resistance.