Editorial: Innovation in tackling the global challenge of eradicating antibiotic-resistant microorganisms
Year: 2026
Type: editorial
Abstract: Bacteriophages are often framed as "precision antibacterials", with performance depending on host range, bacterial physiology, clinical workflow and biofilm architecture. Using isothermal microcalorimetry, Lafranca et al. (2025) quantify the efficacy of a commercial phage cocktail against skin pathogens in planktonic culture and both thin and thick biofilms, and found that biofilm thickness and maturity can limit phage impact. They also noted that chronic wound settings may require biofilm disruption (e.g., mechanical debridement) to create conditions conducive to phage activity. Finally, the Topic includes a forward-looking perspective on "enzybiotics" -phage-derived lytic enzymes that may offer controllable, protein-based antibacterials. Bałdysz et al. (2024) argue that enzybiotic bioinformatics must mature to include better annotation standards, curated datasets and benchmarking that connects in silico predictions to measurable antimicrobial activity.Several papers in this collection sharpen surveillance scope and capacities by addressing elements that traverse wards, institutions and bacterial lineages. Together, these studies reinforce the need for strict surveillance of "units of spread", which can be a clone, lineage, plasmid, or even an ecological reservoir.Using metagenomics, Yu et al. (2025) profile soil microbial communities, antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factors in tea plantation soils after two decades of conventional versus organic management. Their work shows how agricultural practice and environmental conditions can shape the background resistome, i.e., the genetic "starting point" from which resistance determinants may persist or spread.sequencing, which can be misleading when total microbial loads shift and is biased due to variable 16S copy numbers. By incorporating absolute abundance calculations, they show a substantially different inferred impact, both in magnitude and statistical significance, of antibiotic treatment on the fecal microbiota of young pigs. This methodological advance can reshape how we interpret intervention in human and veterinary medicine and, consequently, how we assess selection pressure and downstream AMR risk.Using an interrupted time-series approach, Abdelsalam-Elshenawy et al. (2025) examine how seasonal variation and the COVID-19 pandemic influenced antimicrobial stewardship activities and antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections in a UK secondary care setting. Their results demonstrate that external shocks and seasonal pressures can rapidly shift prescribing behavior and therefore, stewardship programs must be designed to remain effective when routines are disrupted. These 15 papers do not claim a single solution for AMR. Instead, they offer a portfolio of approaches that resolve the vehicles of resistance, provide metagenomic views of environmental reservoirs, improve microbiome analytics, develop novel or repurpose molecules in both bacteriology and mycology and research system-level behavior.The unifying message is both sobering and hopeful. No "silver bullet" will eradicate antibioticresistant microorganisms. Durable progress will arise from integration of new therapeutics with improved diagnostics, faster genomic surveillance and stewardship programs resilient to realworld pressures. By building bridges between bench and bedside, farm and clinic, genome and guidelines, the innovations showcased here can transition from promising studies to agents with sustained impact on the fight against antibiotic-resistant microorganisms.
Source: Frontiers in Microbiology
Authors: Israel Nissan, Avi Peretz
Institution: Bar-Ilan University
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W7122705540
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