Abstract The large scale use of
antimicrobial drugs in agriculture and in human medicine has been implicated as a major cause of the anti biotic resistance (ABR) problem. However, most of the research has focused on the following: (i) the clinical setting, (ii) resistance mechanisms prevailing under selective conditions and, (iii) the culturable fraction of resistant bacteria. These trends limit our understanding of the extent of the ABR problem by overlooking resistance determinants in non-culturable bacteria residing outside the clinical setting and the role they may have in
future clinical threats. Additionally, knowledge on the diversity and environmental reservoirs of genetic
elements…
