Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
7.3
4.3
Journals
Antibiotics
Special Issues
Addressing the Challenge of Antibiotic Resistance with Existing Antibiotics
share announcement

Addressing the Challenge of Antibiotic Resistance with Existing Antibiotics

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Mechanism and Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 October 2025 | Viewed by 991

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Xuanxian Peng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, State Key Laboratory of Bio-Control, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, University City, Guangzhou 510006, China
Interests: metabolic reprogramming; metabolic mechanisms; metabolic reversing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Antibiotic resistance poses a big challenge to human health and animal feeding. Since the pipeline of new antibiotic discoveries is becoming more limited, restoring and increasing existing antibacterials that are already subject to resistance is an alternative approach.

The Special Issue aims to highlight the use of a range of effective strategies for synergizing antibacterial agents with drugs or adjuvants against antibiotic-resistant pathogens. It includes, but is not limited to, the following research:

  1. Clinical epidemiology and characteristic analysis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
  2. The synergistic effect of antibacterial agents and metabolites against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
  3. The synergistic effect of antibacterial agents and chemicals against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
  4. The synergistic effect of antibacterial agents and other antibacterial agents against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
  5. The synergistic effect of antibacterial agents and non-antibacterial agents against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Prof. Dr. Xuanxian Peng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • antibiotic resistance
  • antibacterial agents
  • metabolites
  • antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

17 pages, 5365 KiB  
Article
What Is the Impact of Antibiotic Resistance Determinants on the Bacterial Death Rate?
by Bruno T. S. Luz, João S. Rebelo, Francisca Monteiro and Francisco Dionisio
Antibiotics 2025, 14(2), 201; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14020201 - 14 Feb 2025
Viewed by 674
Abstract
Objectives: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are widespread, with resistance arising from chromosomal mutations and resistance genes located in the chromosome or in mobile genetic elements. While resistance determinants often reduce bacterial growth rates, their influence on bacterial death under bactericidal antibiotics remains poorly understood. When [...] Read more.
Objectives: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are widespread, with resistance arising from chromosomal mutations and resistance genes located in the chromosome or in mobile genetic elements. While resistance determinants often reduce bacterial growth rates, their influence on bacterial death under bactericidal antibiotics remains poorly understood. When bacteria are exposed to bactericidal antibiotics to which they are susceptible, they typically undergo a two-phase decline: a fast initial exponentially decaying phase, followed by a persistent slow-decaying phase. This study examined how resistance determinants affect death rates during both phases. Methods: We analyzed the death rates of ampicillin-exposed Escherichia coli populations of strains sensitive to ampicillin but resistant to nalidixic acid, rifampicin, or both, and bacteria carrying the conjugative plasmids RN3 or R702. Results: Single mutants resistant to nalidixic acid or rifampicin decayed faster than sensitive cells during the early phase, whereas the double-resistant mutant exhibited prolonged survival. These contrasting impacts suggest epistatic interactions between both chromosomal mutations. Persistent-phase death rates for chromosomal mutants did not differ significantly from wild-type cells. In contrast, plasmid-carrying bacteria displayed distinct dynamics: R702 plasmid-bearing cells showed higher persistent-phase death rates than plasmid-free cells, while RN3 plasmid-bearing cells exhibited lower rates. Conclusions: Bactericidal antibiotics may kill bacteria resistant to other antibiotics more effectively than wild-type cells. Moreover, epistasis may occur when different resistance determinants occur in the same cell, impacting the bactericidal potential of the antibiotic of choice. These results have significant implications for optimizing bacterial eradication protocols in clinical settings, as well as in animal health and industrial food safety management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Addressing the Challenge of Antibiotic Resistance with Existing Antibiotics)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-1
Back to TopTop