McArthur, A.G., F. Nizam, N. Waglechner, & G.D. Wright. 2010. Towards a comprehensive antibiotic resistance database. Oral presentation at the 2nd ASM Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance in Zoonotic Bacteria and Foodborne Pathogens in Animals, Humans and the Environment, Toronto, Ontario.
Addressing the challenge of antibiotic resistance requires the combined efforts of researchers that span inquiry at the molecular, patient, and population levels. Yet, despite the common objective of finding solutions to drug resistance, practitioners of these research areas do not often integrate their research findings. This reality reflects the disparate investigative tools, timelines and specific project aims of these disciplines. Nevertheless, resistance genes and their products are the common elements that bridge antibiotic resistance research from bench to clinic to population. What is lacking in the field is a comprehensive database of resistance genes that includes molecular, clinical, and surveillance data that can serve to unify research. We have established a UK-Canada consortium of antibiotic resistance researchers from all areas of resistance investigation to establish an Antibiotic Resistance Pipeline. Phase 1 of the project is to begin construction of a Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD). Central to the effectiveness of CARD is the development and application of an Antibiotic Resistance Ontology, which describes the targets (e.g. oxacillin), determinants (e.g. beta-lactamase), mechanisms (e.g. digestion of beta-lactam ring), and inhibitors of antibiotic resistance. As a pilot effort, CARD currently addresses antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii by linking sequences of 21 genomes, 105 plasmids, and their products to the Antibiotic Resistance Ontology, published literature, GenBank, PubMed, PubChem, DailyMed, Gene Ontology, and surveillance data in CAN-R. The Antibiotic Resistance Pipeline and CARD provide an opportunity to unify the sub-fields of antibiotic resistance research to the benefit of clinical practice, fundamental research, and drug development.
