Bacteriophages: Potential Candidates for the Dissemination of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Environment

The invention of antibacterial agents (antibiotics) was a significant event in the history of the human race, and this invention changed the way in which infectious diseases were cured; as a result, many lives have been saved. Recently, antibiotic resistance has developed as a result of excessive use of antibiotics, and it has become a major threat to world health. ARGs are spread across biomes and taxa of bacteria via lateral or horizontal gene transfer (HGT), especially via conjugation, transformation, and transduction. This review concerns transduction, whereby bacteriophages or phages facilitate gene transfer in bacteria. Bacteriophages are just as common and many times more numerous than their bacterial prey, and these phages are much more influential in controlling the population of bacteria. It is estimated that 25% of overall genes of Escherichia coli have been copied by other species of bacteria due to the HGT process. Transduction may take place via a generalized or specialized mechanism, with phages being ubiquitous in nature. Phage and virus-like particle (VLP) metagenomics have uncovered the emergence of ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) of bacterial origins. These genes, when transferred to bacteria through transduction, confer resistance to antibiotics. ARGs are spread through phage-based transduction between the environment and bacteria related to people or animals, and it is vital that we further understand and tackle this mechanism in order to combat antimicrobial resistance.