Evolution & Spread of Antibiotic Resistance

OVERVIEW

Antibiotics are essential to fighting infectious bacteria. However, overuse of antibiotics in both the biomedical and agricultural sectors has led to the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria worldwide. Consequently, bacterial infections that were once treatable are increasingly becoming debilitating and life-threatening afflictions. In the Wiles Lab we are probing the ecology of antibiotic resistance to obtain an integrated, systems-level understanding of how antibiotic resistance emerges at the molecular scale and spreads on a global scale. Our long-term goal is to identify ecologically-informed countermeasures for stopping antibiotic resistant bacteria.

The split screen movie below was recorded using light sheet fluorescence microscopy and shows fluorescently marked bacteria within the intestine of a larval zebrafish that had been treated with antibiotics. Each panel shows the same animal’s intestine. On the left, all bacteria within the field of view are shown. On the right, only bacteria that are experiencing antibiotic-induced stressed are shown.