Repository of Antibiotic resistance Cassettes

RAC otherwise known as Repository of Antibiotic resistance Cassettes is a database that uses the automatic Attacca annotation system in order to comprehensively annotate gene-cassettes and transposable elements in a stream-lined manner and to discover novel gene cassettes.[1] Antibiotic resistance is often due to horizontal gene transfer, which allows resistance to arise through cell-to-cell interaction.[2] This poses a major challenge in the field of antibiotic resistance. Hence, the creation of RAC which would provide researchers a comprehensive and unique tool for the endeavor of documenting resistance due to gene-cassettes and transposable elements. Attacca helps discover novel gene cassettes when any three of the following occurs as mentioned in Tsafnat et al, 2011:

  • the Attacca discovery heuristics (19) identify a gap in a cassette array that could correspond to a novel cassette;[1]
  • a cassette encoding a potentially novel β-lactamase variant is detected;[1] or
  • the type of sequence submitted (e.g. isolated cassette) suggests that a gene cassette should be present but a gene cassette is not found by Attacca.[1]
RAC: Repository of Antibiotic resistance Cassettes
Content
DescriptionDatabase focused on the discovery and annotation of novel gene cassettes and other transposable elements.
Data types
captured
Gene Cassettes and Transposable elements
OrganismsBacteria
Contact
Primary citationPMID 22140215
Access
Websitewww2.chi.unsw.edu.au/rac.
Miscellaneous
Bookmarkable
entities
yes

If any of these cases occur, the gene-cassette would be sent to review at the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Sydney for further examination.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Tsafnat, G.; Copty, J.; Partridge, S. R. (2011-12-02). "RAC: Repository of Antibiotic resistance Cassettes". Database. 2011: bar054. doi:10.1093/database/bar054. ISSN 1758-0463. PMC 3229207. PMID 22140215.
  2. ^ Stokes, Hatch W.; Gillings, Michael R. (September 2011). "Gene flow, mobile genetic elements and the recruitment of antibiotic resistance genes into Gram-negative pathogens". FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 35 (5): 790–819. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6976.2011.00273.x. ISSN 1574-6976. PMID 21517914.