Antimicrobial Drug Efflux Genes and Pumps in Bacteria of Animal and Environmental Origin

Abstract

Antimicrobial drug efflux genes are widely distributed in nature and are important components of the environmental resistome. As with any resistance genetic determinants, drug efflux genes also reflect the dynamic evolution and complex dissemination of antimicrobial resistance across various environments, in particular under antimicrobial selective pressure. A number of efflux genes have been identified and characterized in both pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria from animals and other environments including soil, plant and aquatic sources. Drug efflux pumps play important roles in drug resistance as well as other functions including pathogenesis. This chapter describes the distribution of drug efflux genes and functional roles of drug efflux pumps in these bacteria.