JERUSALEM, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli researchers have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism enabling bacteria to develop antibiotic resistance rapidly, the Israel Institute of Technology said in a statement on Monday.
The discovery, published in Nature Microbiology, could pave the way for new treatments that improve the effectiveness of antibiotics and help slow the spread of drug-resistant infections, the statement said.
The mechanism allows bacteria to increase the number of copies of specific genes, helping them survive antibiotic exposure.
The researchers identified the mechanism using AmpliFinder, a computational tool developed by the team to analyze more than 10,000 laboratory-evolved bacterial samples.
The study found that bacteria can create dozens of copies of resistance-related genes through a unique form of DNA amplification, allowing them to adapt quickly to antibiotic treatment.
The process was observed in two bacterial species, Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter baumannii, and helped bacteria survive higher levels of antibiotics. ■
