Question

How do plasmids contribute to antibiotic resistance?

Answer 1

Plasmids:

1. Plasmids are used in genetic engineering and are also referred to as vectors.
2. They are also used to transfer genes from one organism to another and contain a genetic marker conferring on their phenotype that could be selected along with their independent replication site.
3. Plasmids can move between several bacteria.
4. Plasmids have antibiotic-resistant genes that confer resistance to several antibiotics.
5. These genes help bacteria evade the effects of antibiotics on them.
6. They also help to differentiate between transformed and non-transformed cells.
7. When a plasmid carrying the antibiotic resistance gene is plated on antibiotic agar plates, it selects the cells with the antibiotic resistance plasmid.
8. aac(3)-l, aac(3)-la, and mcr-1 are some of the examples of antibiotic resistance genes.