Molecular Ecology of Class 1 Integrons in Patagonia as Model System for Understanding the Rise of Antibiotic Resistance Isolates Around the World

Abstract

Molecular flux of antimicrobialresistance genes (ARG) is essential to understand how pathogenic strains adaptto extreme resistance at a global scale. The difficulty in assessing how ARG interactwith human activities, led us to look for a suitable biological model system,class 1 integrons as molecular component of bacterial resistance, and Tierradel Fuego Island as study area, which allowed to determine that once the intI1-positive clinical strains weredischarged from the hospital, the intI1genes can be transferred through the Lateral Genetic Transfer to otherbacterial species from the open environment where they can be maintained overtime.