Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence Mechanisms

Dear Colleagues,

The emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, particularly those resistant to last-resource antibiotics, is now a common problem and has been defined as one of the three priorities for the safeguarding of One Health by the Tripartite Alliance, which includes the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Office International des Epizooties (OIE). Bacterial resistance profiles, together with the expression of specific virulence markers, have a major influence on infectious disease outcomes. These bacterial traits are interconnected, since not only may the presence of antibiotics influence bacterial virulence gene expression and, consequently, infection pathogenesis, but some virulence factors may also contribute to an increased ability to resist bacteria, as observed in biofilm-producing strains. Surveillance of important resistant and virulent clones and associated mobile genetic elements is essential to decision-making in terms of mitigation measures to be applied for the prevention of such infections in both human and veterinary medicine. However, the role of natural environments as important components of the dissemination cycle of these strains has been disregarded until recently. This Special Issue aims to publish manuscripts that contribute to our understanding of the impact of bacterial antimicrobial resistance and virulence in the three areas of the One Health triad, i.e., animal, human, and environmental health.

Dr. Manuela Oliveira
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.