Identification of antibiotics triggering the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes by SXT/R391 elements using a dedicated high-throughput whole-cell biosensor assay.

The effect of antibiotics goes beyond the interaction with their primary cell targets and may lead to adverse effects such as triggering the dissemination of resistance by MGEs, sometimes in unpredictable ways. Identifying such MGE-triggering antibiotics is of prime importance for better controlling collateral effects during therapy.