Horizontal Gene Transfer in Bacteri...
03 Aug,2026
Horizontal Gene Transfer in Bacteria: How Resistance Genes Spread and Why Early Detection Matters
Understanding Horizontal Gene Transfer and Its Role in Antimicrobial Resistance
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognises antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the world's most serious public health threats with 39 million deaths directly between 2025 and 2050. In addition to the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) plays a major role in the spread of antimicrobial resistance. During HGT, mobile genetic elements such as plasmids, transposons, and integrons transfer important resistance genes, including those encoding five major carbapenemases enzymes NDM, KPC, OXA-48, VIM, and IMP (blaNDM, blaKPC, blaOXA-48, blaVIM, and blaIMP genes), between unrelated bacteria.
This rapid spread of resistance genes across different bacterial species contributes to the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), represents a critical medical threat because these pathogens are resistant to “last-line” reserve antibiotics.
Diagnosis, Infection Control and Prevention: Breaking the Chain of Resistance
Although horizontal gene transfer cannot be prevented, the spread of resistant bacteria can be effectively controlled by patient isolation, significantly reducing the transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) to other patients, healthcare workers, and visitors.
Using our kit, TRURAPID® O.N.K.V.I. RESIST-5 Test, a multiplex LFA, simultaneous detection of major carbapenemases is possible in just 15 minutes, directly from bacterial cultures. The rapid multiplex carbapenemase LFA provides results approximately 6–12 hours earlier than conventional culture and final antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) results.
Hospitals experience several distinct clinical, financial, and operational benefits by isolating patients with drug-resistant infections.
· Mitigates Hospital Outbreaks: Minimizes the threat of rapid, cluster-based outbreaks within high-risk units like Intensive Care Units (ICUs).
· Shortens Average Length of Stay (LOS): Prevents patients from acquiring secondary infections that prolong hospital stays and delay discharge.
Key advantages of such LFA test are:
· Earlier detection of carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs), supporting early diagnosis
· Faster treatment decisions
· More efficient infection control
· Patient isolation
· Improved antimicrobial stewardship
· Simultaneous detection and differentiation of five clinically relevant carbapenemases OXA-48, NDM, KPC, VIM and IMP carbapenemases in a single test.
· No specialized instrumentation required, making it easy to integrate into routine laboratory workflows.
· Identifies the underlying resistance mechanism before final AST results are available, hence providing key information for treatment.
· Eliminates the need for multiple individual confirmatory assays.
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Publications:
- Hong J, Kang D, Kim D. Performance evaluation of the newly developed in vitro rapid diagnostic test for detecting OXA-48-like, KPC-, NDM-, VIM- and IMP-type carbapenemases: the RESIST-5 O.K.N.V.I. multiplex lateral flow assay. Antibiotics (Basel). 2021;10(4):460. doi:10.3390/antibiotics10040460
- Rahmani S, Basu S, Simner PJ, Kambli P, Shetty A, Rodrigues C. Evaluation of the rapid lateral flow assay (LFA) for detection of five major carbapenemase enzyme families in genotypically characterised bacterial isolates. Indian J Med Res. 2025;161(6):695–701. doi:10.25259/IJMR_1976_2024
- Ghosh A, Wyawahare AS, Mulay MV, Naik SD, Mishra JK. Synergistic activity of ceftazidime-avibactam-aztreonam combination against metallo-betalactamase producing Enterobacterales isolates. Journal of Chemical Health Risks. 2026;16(2):1658–1664.
- Tarai B, Agrawal SK. In vitro evaluation performance of recently developed rapid diagnostic test for detecting carbapenemases: the multiplex lateral flow assay. Ann Med Health Sci Res. 2025;15:1–4.
