Antibiotic resistance is ancient

Vanessa M. D’Costa, Christine E. King, Lindsay Kalan, Mariya Morar, Wilson W. L. Sung, Carsten Schwarz, Duane Froese, Grant Zazula, Fabrice Calmels, Regis Debruyne, G. Brian Golding, Hendrik N. Poinar () and Gerard D. Wright ()
Additional contact information
Vanessa M. D’Costa: Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University
Christine E. King: McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, McMaster University
Lindsay Kalan: Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University
Mariya Morar: Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University
Wilson W. L. Sung: McMaster University
Carsten Schwarz: McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, McMaster University
Duane Froese: University of Alberta
Grant Zazula: Yukon Palaeontology Program, Yukon Government, PO Box 2703
Fabrice Calmels: University of Alberta
Regis Debruyne: Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, UMR 7206 Eco-anthropologie, 57 rue Cuvier, CP139
G. Brian Golding: McMaster University
Hendrik N. Poinar: Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University
Gerard D. Wright: Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University

Nature, 2011, vol. 477, issue 7365, 457-461

Abstract: The roots of antibiotic resistance Antibiotic resistance is thought to have evolved long before naturally occurring antibiotics and their derivatives were used to treat human disease, but direct evidence for genes that encode resistance has been lacking. Now, an ancient vancomycin-resistance gene has been recovered from 30,000-year-old samples of Siberian permafrost, and the three-dimensional structure of its product has been compared with that of its modern counterpart. There are minor structural differences between the ancient and modern versions, but the differences are not reflected in enzyme function.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10388

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