Yersinia pestis, the cause of plague and a potential biological weapon, has always been a threatening pathogen. Some strains of Y. pestis have varying degrees of antibiotic resistance. Thus, this systematic review was conducted to alert clinicians to this pathogen’s potential antimicrobial resistance. A review of the literature was conducted for experimental reports and systematic reviews on the topics of plague, Y. pestis, and antibiotic resistance. From 1995 to 2021, 7 Y. pestis isolates with 4 antibiotic resistance mechanisms were reported. In Y. pestis 17/95, 16/95, and 2180H, resistance was mediated by transferable plasmids. Each plasmid contained resistance genes encoded within specific transposons. Strain 17/95 presented multiple drug resistance, since plasmid 1202 contained 10 resistance determinants. Strains 16/95 and 2180H showed single antibiotic resistance because both additional plasmids in these strains carried only 1 antimicrobial determinant. Strains 12/87, S19960127, 56/13, and 59/13 exhibited streptomycin resistance due to an rpsl gene mutation, a novel mechanism that was discovered recently. Y. pestis can acquire antibiotic resistance in nature not only via conjugative transfer of antimicrobial-resistant plasmids from other bacteria, but also by gene point mutations. Global surveillance should be strengthened to identify antibiotic-resistant Y. pestis strains by whole-genome sequencing and drug susceptibility testing.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Advances in Microbial Diagnostics: Machine Learning and Nanotechnology for Zoonotic Disease Control Narges Lotfalizadeh, Cinzia Santucciu, Valentina Chisu, Helia Sepahvand, Abbas Rahdar, Razieh Behzadmehr, Octavio Luiz Franco, Guettari Moez, Luiz Fernando Romanholo Ferreira WIREs Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology.2026;[Epub] CrossRef
Live Plague Vaccine Development: Past, Present, and Future Andrey P. Anisimov, Anastasia S. Vagaiskaya, Alexandra S. Trunyakova, Svetlana V. Dentovskaya Vaccines.2025; 13(1): 66. CrossRef
Plague and tularemia surveillance in hormozgan province, Southern Iran Hossein Ahangari Cohan, Saber Esmaeili, Ahmad Mahmoudi, Ahmad Ghasemi, Amir Hesam Nemati, Mohammad Mehdi Gooya, Abdoljabbar Zakeri, Ehsan Mostafavi BMC Veterinary Research.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Nanolipoprotein particle (NLP) vaccine confers protection against Yersinia pestis aerosol challenge in a BALB/c mouse model Sergei S. Biryukov, Amy Rasley, Michael L. Davies, Christopher P. Klimko, Jennifer L. Dankmeyer, Melissa Hunter, Nathaniel O. Rill, Jennifer L. Shoe, Jeremy Miller, Yuli Talyansky, Barbara Sullinger, Matheo Herrera, Daniel Huang, Leslie Bautista, Lucy Pep Frontiers in Immunology.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
New Frontiers for Old Medications: Repurposing Approved Drugs Against Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections Ronit Aloni-Grinstein, Emanuelle Mamroud, Yoav Gal Microorganisms.2025; 13(9): 2115. CrossRef
Antibiotic Susceptibility Screening and Search for Resistance Genes in Yersinia pestis Clinical Isolates from Plague Outbreaks in Natural Foci of Kazakhstan (1926–2003) Zyat Abdel, Zauresh Zhumadilova, Raikhan Mussagalieva, Aigul Abdirassilova, Altyn Rysbekova, Svetlana Issaeva, Bolatbek Baitursyn, Beck Abdeliyev, Dinmukhammed Otebay, Ardak Jumagaziyeva, Bauyrzhan Toizhanov, Nurbol Shakiyev Microbial Drug Resistance.2025; 31(9): 287. CrossRef
Molecular Tracing and Comparative Genomics Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains Isolated from Wild Rodents in Yunnan Province in 2022 Rong Yang, Fengyi Yang, Shanshan Dong, Haiyan Peng, Liyuan Shi, Peng Wang Pathogens.2025; 14(12): 1212. CrossRef
Seek and you shall find: Yersinia enterocolitica in Ireland’s drinking water James Powell, Maureen Daly, Nuala H. O’Connell, Colum P. Dunne Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -).2024; 193(4): 1885. CrossRef
A novel sORF gene mutant strain of Yersinia pestis vaccine EV76 offers enhanced safety and improved protection against plague Xiao Guo, Youquan Xin, Zehui Tong, Shiyang Cao, Yuan Zhang, Gengshan Wu, Hongyan Chen, Tong Wang, Yajun Song, Qingwen Zhang, Ruifu Yang, Zongmin Du, Gregory P. Priebe PLOS Pathogens.2024; 20(3): e1012129. CrossRef
Interaction between Yersinia pestis Ail Outer Membrane Protein and the C-Terminal Domain of Human Vitronectin Laurine Vasseur, Florent Barbault, Antonio Monari The Journal of Physical Chemistry B.2024; 128(16): 3929. CrossRef
Integrated Computational Analysis of Physicochemical Features, Biological Properties, Kinase Target Prediction and Biotransformation Pathways in Drug Discovery Mohamed Sabri Bensaad, Dhiya Eddine Bensaad, Mohamed Amine Kahoul, Dania S. Waggas, Roua S. Baty, Rokayya Sami, Hamsa Jameel Banjer, Siraj B. Alharthi, Ruqaiah I. Bedaiwi, Zeyad M. Alharbi, Mohammad A. Alanazi, Nouf H. Alsubhi, Ashwaq M. Al-Nazawi, Nada A International Journal of Pharmacology.2024; 20(5): 748. CrossRef
Emerging Microorganisms and Infectious Diseases: One Health Approach for Health Shared Vision Maria Vittoria Ristori, Valerio Guarrasi, Paolo Soda, Nicola Petrosillo, Fiorella Gurrieri, Umile Giuseppe Longo, Massimo Ciccozzi, Elisabetta Riva, Silvia Angeletti Genes.2024; 15(7): 908. CrossRef
Screening of promising molecules against potential drug targets in Yersinia pestis by integrative pan and subtractive genomics, docking and simulation approach Lei Chen, Lihu Zhang, Yanping Li, Liang Qiao, Suresh Kumar Archives of Microbiology.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Plasmonic-Enhanced Colorimetric Lateral Flow Immunoassays Using Bimetallic Silver-Coated Gold Nanostars Supriya Atta, Yuanhao Zhao, Sebastian Sanchez, Deven Seedial, Jasmine Pramila Devadhasan, Alexander Jarrett Summers, Marcellene A. Gates-Hollingsworth, Kathryn J Pflughoeft, Jian Gu, Douglas C. Montgomery, David P. AuCoin, Frederic Zenhausern, Tuan Vo-Din ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.2024; 16(40): 54907. CrossRef
Madagascar’s Plague: One Health Research Aims to Slow Its Spread Wendee Nicole Environmental Health Perspectives.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
The Protective Effect of IL-17A in Pneumonic Plague Can Be Compensated by Effective Vaccines and Immunization Strategies in Mice Emily K. Hendrix, Jian Sha, Paul B. Kilgore, Blake H. Neil, Atul K. Verma, Ashok K. Chopra Vaccines.2024; 12(12): 1361. CrossRef
Development of Effective Medical Countermeasures Against the Main Biowarfare Agents: The Importance of Antibodies Arnaud Avril, Sophie Guillier, Christine Rasetti-Escargueil Microorganisms.2024; 12(12): 2622. CrossRef
Rapid Induction of Protective Immunity against Pneumonic Plague by Yersinia pestis Polymeric F1 and LcrV Antigens Moshe Aftalion, Avital Tidhar, Yaron Vagima, David Gur, Ayelet Zauberman, Tzvi Holtzman, Arik Makovitzki, Theodor Chitlaru, Emanuelle Mamroud, Yinon Levy Vaccines.2023; 11(3): 581. CrossRef
Antibiotic resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae: broad-spectrum drug target identification using subtractive genomics Umairah Natasya Mohd Omeershffudin, Suresh Kumar Genomics & Informatics.2023; 21(1): e5. CrossRef
Polyclonal Antibodies Derived from Transchromosomic Bovines Vaccinated with the Recombinant F1-V Vaccine Increase Bacterial Opsonization In Vitro and Protect Mice from Pneumonic Plague Sergei S. Biryukov, Hua Wu, Jennifer L. Dankmeyer, Nathaniel O. Rill, Christopher P. Klimko, Kristi A. Egland, Jennifer L. Shoe, Melissa Hunter, David P. Fetterer, Ju Qiu, Michael L. Davies, Christoph L. Bausch, Eddie J. Sullivan, Thomas Luke, Christopher Antibodies.2023; 12(2): 33. CrossRef
New Bacteriophages with Podoviridal Morphotypes Active against Yersinia pestis: Characterization and Application Potential Tamar Suladze, Ekaterine Jaiani, Marina Darsavelidze, Maia Elizbarashvili, Olivier Gorge, Ia Kusradze, Tamar Kokashvili, Nino Lashkhi, George Tsertsvadze, Nino Janelidze, Svetlana Chubinidze, Marina Grdzelidze, Shota Tsanava, Eric Valade, Marina Tediashvi Viruses.2023; 15(7): 1484. CrossRef
Characterization of Mu-Like
Yersinia
Phages Exhibiting Temperature Dependent Infection
Biao Meng, Zhizhen Qi, Xiang Li, Hong Peng, Shanzheng Bi, Xiao Wei, Yan Li, Qi Zhang, Xiaoqing Xu, Haihong Zhao, Xiaoyan Yang, Changjun Wang, Xiangna Zhao, Olaya Rendueles Microbiology Spectrum.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Ancient
Yersinia pestis
genomes lack the virulence-associated Ypf
Φ
prophage present in modern pandemic strains
Joanna H. Bonczarowska, Julian Susat, Ben Krause-Kyora, Dorthe Dangvard Pedersen, Jesper Boldsen, Lars Agersnap Larsen, Lone Seeberg, Almut Nebel, Daniel Unterweger Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sci.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
A situation analysis of the current plague outbreak in the Demographic Republic of Congo and counteracting strategies – Correspondence Ranjit Sah, Abdullah Reda, Rachana Mehta, Ranjan K. Mohapatra, Kuldeep Dhama International Journal of Surgery.2022; 105: 106885. CrossRef
Antimicrobial resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae: identification of bacterial DNA adenine methyltransferase as a novel drug target from hypothetical proteins using subtractive genomics Umairah Natasya Mohd Omeershffudin, Suresh Kumar Genomics & Informatics.2022; 20(4): e47. CrossRef
<sec>
<title>Objectives</title>
<p>Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is under development as an oncolytic virus due to its preferential replication in cancer cells and oncolytic activity, however the viral components responsible have not yet been determined. In this study the effects of VSV wild-type (wt) and M51R-mutant matrix proteins (M51R-mMP) on apoptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, and autophagy pathways, in an esophagus cancer cell line (KYSE-30) were investigated.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Methods</title>
<p>The KYSE-30 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.1 plasmids encoding wt or M51R-mMP, and apoptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, and autophagy were evaluated 48 and 72 hours after transfection.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Results</title>
<p>KYSE-30 cells transfected with VSV wt and M51R-mMPs significantly reduced cell viability to < 50% at 72 hours post-transfection. M51R-MP significantly increased the concentration of caspase-8 and caspase-9 at 48 and 72 hours post-transfection, respectively ( <italic>p</italic> < 0.05). In contrast, no significant changes were detected following transfection with the VSV wt plasmid. Moreover, VSV wt and M51R-mMP transfected cells did not change the expression of caspase-3. VSV wt and M51R-mMPs did not mMP change caspase-1 expression (a marker of pyroptosis) at 48 and 72 hours post-transfection. However, M51R-mMP and VSV wt transfected cells significantly increased RIP-1 (a marker of necroptosis) expression at 72 hours post-infection ( <italic>p</italic> < 0.05). Beclin-1, a biomarker of autophagy, was also induced by transfection with VSV wt or M51R-mMPs at 48 hours post-transfection.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Conclusion</title>
<p>The results in this study indicated that VSV exerts oncolytic activity in KYSE-30 tumor cells through different cell death pathways, suggesting that M51R-mMP may potentially be used to enhance oncolysis.</p></sec>
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Evoking pyroptosis with nanomaterials for cancer immunotherapy: Current boom and novel outlook Wen-Da Wang, Zhi-Jun Sun Nano TransMed.2022; 1(1): 9130001. CrossRef
Biological causes of immunogenic cancer cell death (ICD) and anti-tumor therapy; Combination of Oncolytic virus-based immunotherapy and CAR T-cell therapy for ICD induction Amirhossein Mardi, Anastasia V. Shirokova, Rebar N. Mohammed, Ali Keshavarz, Angelina O. Zekiy, Lakshmi Thangavelu, Talar Ahmad Merza Mohamad, Faroogh Marofi, Navid Shomali, Amir Zamani, Morteza Akbari Cancer Cell International.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Oncolytic Viruses: Immunotherapy Drugs for Gastrointestinal Malignant Tumors Qingbo Li, Patrick Kwabena Oduro, Rui Guo, Ruiqiao Li, Ling Leng, Xianbin Kong, Qilong Wang, Long Yang Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Live-attenuated poliovirus-induced extrinsic apoptosis through Caspase 8 within breast cancer cell lines expressing CD155 Hossein Vazeh, Emad Behboudi, Anahita Hashemzadeh-Omran, Abdolvahab Moradi Breast Cancer.2022; 29(5): 899. CrossRef
Exogenous expression of both matrix protein and glycoprotein facilitates infectious viral particle production of Borna disease virus 1 Takehiro Kanda, Madoka Sakai, Akiko Makino, Keizo Tomonaga
Journal of General Virology
.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
La herencia de Prometeo. Las enfermedades ocupacionales en el Corpus Hippocraticum César Sierra Martín Asclepio.2022; 74(1): p587. CrossRef
Analyses of cell death mechanisms related to amino acid substitution at position 95 in the rabies virus matrix protein Isshu Kojima, Fumiki Izumi, Makoto Ozawa, Yoshikazu Fujimoto, Misuzu Okajima, Naoto Ito, Makoto Sugiyama, Tatsunori Masatani
Journal of General Virology
.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
The role of non-apoptotic cell death in the treatment and drug-resistance of digestive tumors Yang Yang, LiangLiang Bai, Weiting Liao, Mingyang Feng, Mengxi Zhang, Qiuji Wu, Kexun Zhou, Feng Wen, Wanting Lei, Nan Zhang, Jiaxing Huang, Qiu Li Experimental Cell Research.2021; 405(2): 112678. CrossRef
NEBL and AKT1 maybe new targets to eliminate the colorectal cancer cells resistance to oncolytic effect of vesicular stomatitis virus M-protein Zoleikha Mamizadeh, Mohamad Reza Kalani, Masoud Parsania, Mohammad Mehdi Soltan Dallal, Abdolvahab Moradi Molecular Therapy - Oncolytics.2021; 23: 593. CrossRef
First
Prev
