ABSTRACT
There is growing concern within the scientific community that the widespread, indiscriminate use of antibiotics has led to the development and emergence of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains (Dixon, 1998). Similarly, the widespread use, and dissemination within the environment, of chemical antimicrobials is leading to a reduction in their effectiveness. Moreover, the prospect of resistance to one type of antimicrobial agent, such as a biocide, leading to cross-resistance to a separate, unrelated agent such as an antibiotic, has serious potential (Levy, 1998). This, coupled to increasing demands by society on the control of bacteria in an ever-widening sphere of applications has heightened the need to understand the mechanisms associated with antimicrobial resistance and tolerance development.
