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Antibiotic Resistance: Recent Developments and Future Prospects

A Special Issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067) belonging to the section "Molecular Pharmacology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 548

Editor


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Guest Editor
Health Research Innovation Center 2C53, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
Interests: antimicrobial resistance detection; microbial ecology; microbiome analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Antibiotic resistance is a critical threat to global health, underscoring the need for innovative antimicrobial strategies and advanced molecular understanding of microbial responses. Nanoantibiotics represent a promising avenue due to their unique antimicrobial properties and potential to target resistant organisms. This Special Issue aims to highlight recent developments in nanoantibiotics, antibiotic resistance detection, and microbiota responses at the molecular level.

We welcome original research and comprehensive reviews that explore the molecular mechanisms of nanoantibiotic activity, the detection and functional characterization of antimicrobial resistance determinants, and the impact of nanoantibiotics on microbial communities and host responses. Studies integrating resistome and microbiome analysis, host–microbe interactions, and mobile genetic elements across clinical, veterinary, and environmental systems are encouraged. By focusing on genomic, metagenomic, and immunological insights, this Special Issue seeks to advance our understanding of how nanoantibiotics intersect with antibiotic resistance and microbial ecology, informing future strategies for surveillance and intervention.

Dr. Awais Ghaffar
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • antimicrobial resistance detection
  • microbial ecology
  • shotgun metagenomics
  • genome-resolved metagenomics
  • microbiome analysis
  • resistome characterization
  • One Health

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 13383 KB  
Article
Novel Insights into Metagenomic-Assembled Genomes from Layer Chicken Housing Environment
by Awais Ghaffar and Mohamed Faizal Abdul-Careem
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(17), 7732; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27177732 - 28 Aug 2026
Viewed by 165
Abstract
Culture-independent techniques are playing a major role in exploring unique and novel microbial communities from complex ecosystems, leading to an outstanding impact on our basic understanding of the tree of life. Microbial communities are not extensively studied in layer chicken housing environments, particularly [...] Read more.
Culture-independent techniques are playing a major role in exploring unique and novel microbial communities from complex ecosystems, leading to an outstanding impact on our basic understanding of the tree of life. Microbial communities are not extensively studied in layer chicken housing environments, particularly from the point of view of taxa carrying antimicrobial resistance genes, virulence genes and their functional potential. This study aimed to extract metagenomic-assembled genomes (MAGs) from the Illumina short-reads shotgun metagenomics sequenced data that originated from an Alberta poultry barn environment and then to study host tracking of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and the roles of genes involved in functions related to ammonia production, short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-related pathways, sulfur metabolism, methane emission, stress and disinfectant-related pathways. A total of 251 high-quality MAGs were extracted, including 249 bacterial and two archaeal genomes from sequencing data of 30 metagenomic sequencing samples comprising 15 air and 15 manure samples collected from 15-layer farms. Interestingly 22 bacterial MAGs were not classified to species levels using GTDB-based classification. ARGs were mainly harbored by the genera Staphylococcus, Alistepes, Romboutsia, and Enterococcus. Bacteroides is a main taxon carrying ARGs in air samples. Ammonia production-related genes were mainly tracked in Staphylococcus, Ruminococcus and Corynebacterium genera. The assimilatory sulfate reduction genes responsible for sulfur metabolism and hydrogenase-related genes responsible for hydrogen cycling were traced from Staphylococcus originated from both air and manure. The current study provides characterizations of MAGs from a poultry housing environment by linking microbial taxa with virulence, resistance, and metabolic functions. The findings emphasize the role of microbiota in shaping gas emissions and AMR, with implications for poultry health and worker’s safety and the ultimate aim of sustainable poultry production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotic Resistance: Recent Developments and Future Prospects)
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