Exploring the Role of Prophages in Antibiotic Resistance Dissemination: An Approach that Challenges Antimicrobial Therapy.

Antibiotic resistance is the most alarming public health problem of recent decades. The World Health Organization constantly raises awareness about pathogenic bacteria that require priority for research and the discovery of new antibiotics. In this regard, Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) and various species of the Campylobacter genus are considered of critical and high priority, respectively. Recently, we explored the diversity of prophages harbored in over 13,000 prokaryotic genomes. We found that lysogens are more common than previously estimated, with prophages significantly abundant in pathogenic bacteria and those belonging to the order Enterobacterales. Furthermore, we found that the evolutionary relationships of prophages are closely related to the evolution of their hosts, resulting in a strictly restricted host range. In particular, we demonstrated that populations of A. baumannii and certain Campylobacter species prophages encode a vast repertoire of virulence genes and antibiotic resistance. Finally, we discovered that recombination events between prophages of different genera are a diversification strategy for these viruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]