scholarly journals A Mechanism of Unidirectional Transformation, Leading to Antibiotic Resistance, Occurs within Nasopharyngeal Pneumococcal Biofilm Consortia

mBio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago M. Lattar ◽  
Xueqing Wu ◽  
Jennifer Brophy ◽  
Fuminori Sakai ◽  
Keith P. Klugman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Extracellular Dna ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Serotype Replacement ◽  
Genes Encoding ◽  
Receptor Cross Talk ◽  
Or Genes

ABSTRACT Streptococcus pneumoniae acquires genes for resistance to antibiotics such as streptomycin (Str) or trimethoprim (Tmp) by recombination via transformation of DNA released by other pneumococci and closely related species. Using naturally transformable pneumococci, including strain D39 serotype 2 (S2) and TIGR4 (S4), we studied whether pneumococcal nasopharyngeal transformation was symmetrical, asymmetrical, or unidirectional. Incubation of S2 Tet and S4 Str in a bioreactor simulating the human nasopharynx led to the generation of Spn Tet/Str recombinants. Double-resistant pneumococci emerged soon after 4 h postinoculation at a recombination frequency (rF) of 2.5 × 10 −4 while peaking after 8 h at a rF of 1.1 × 10 −3 . Acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes by transformation was confirmed by treatment with DNase I. A high-throughput serotyping method demonstrated that all double-resistant pneumococci belonged to one serotype lineage (S2 Tet/Str ) and therefore that unidirectional transformation had occurred. Neither heterolysis nor availability of DNA for transformation was a factor for unidirectional transformation given that the density of each strain and extracellular DNA (eDNA) released from both strains were similar. Unidirectional transformation occurred regardless of the antibiotic-resistant gene carried by donors or acquired by recipients and regardless of whether competence-stimulating peptide-receptor cross talk was allowed. Moreover, unidirectional transformation occurred when two donor strains (e.g., S4 Str and S19F Tmp ) were incubated together, leading to S19F Str/Tmp but at a rF 3 orders of magnitude lower (4.9 × 10 −6 ). We finally demonstrated that the mechanism leading to unidirectional transformation was due to inhibition of transformation of the donor by the recipient. IMPORTANCE Pneumococcal transformation in the human nasopharynx may lead to the acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes or genes encoding new capsular variants. Antibiotics and vaccines are currently putting pressure on a number of strains, leading to an increase in antibiotic resistance and serotype replacement. These pneumococcal strains are also acquiring virulence traits from vaccine types via transformation. In this study, we recapitulated multiple-strain colonization with strains carrying a resistance marker and selected for those acquiring resistance to two or three antibiotics, such as would occur in the human nasopharynx. Strains acquiring dual and triple resistance originated from one progenitor, demonstrating that transformation was unidirectional. Unidirectional transformation was the result of inhibition of transformation of donor strains. Unidirectional transformation has implications for the understanding of acquisition patterns of resistance determinants or capsule-switching events.

scholarly journals Characterization of a Multiresistant Mosaic Plasmid from a Fish Farm Sediment Exiguobacterium sp. Isolate Reveals Aggregation of Functional Clinic-Associated Antibiotic Resistance Genes

2013 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 1482-1488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yang ◽  
Chao Wang ◽  
Jinyu Wu ◽  
Li Liu ◽  
Gang Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Mobile Elements ◽  
Fish Farms ◽  
Significant Similarity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Genes Encoding ◽  
The Mean

ABSTRACTThe genusExiguobacteriumcan adapt readily to, and survive in, diverse environments. Our study demonstrated thatExiguobacteriumsp. strain S3-2, isolated from marine sediment, is resistant to five antibiotics. The plasmid pMC1 in this strain carries seven putative resistance genes. We functionally characterized these resistance genes inEscherichia coli, and genes encoding dihydrofolate reductase and macrolide phosphotransferase were considered novel resistance genes based on their low similarities to known resistance genes. The plasmid G+C content distribution was highly heterogeneous. Only the G+C content of one block, which shared significant similarity with a plasmid fromExiguobacterium arabatum, fit well with the mean G+C content of the host. The remainder of the plasmid was composed of mobile elements with a markedly lower G+C ratio than the host. Interestingly, five mobile elements located on pMC1 showed significant similarities to sequences found in pathogens. Our data provided an example of the link between resistance genes in strains from the environment and the clinic and revealed the aggregation of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria isolated from fish farms.

scholarly journals Predicting Antibiotic Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacilli from Resistance Genes

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Terrance Walker ◽  
Julia Quan ◽  
Stephen G. Higgins ◽  
Nikhil Toraskar ◽  
Weizhong Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Unknown Origin ◽  
Bacterial Isolates ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Predictive Values ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Phenotypic Resistance ◽  
E Coli

ABSTRACT We developed a rapid high-throughput PCR test and evaluated highly antibiotic-resistant clinical isolates of Escherichia coli (n = 2,919), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 1,974), Proteus mirabilis (n = 1,150), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 1,484) for several antibiotic resistance genes for comparison with phenotypic resistance across penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, aminoglycosides, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, fluoroquinolones, and macrolides. The isolates originated from hospitals in North America (34%), Europe (23%), Asia (13%), South America (12%), Africa (7%), or Oceania (1%) or were of unknown origin (9%). We developed statistical methods to predict phenotypic resistance from resistance genes for 49 antibiotic-organism combinations, including gentamicin, tobramycin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, ertapenem, imipenem, cefazolin, cefepime, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, ampicillin, and aztreonam. Average positive predictive values for genotypic prediction of phenotypic resistance were 91% for E. coli, 93% for K. pneumoniae, 87% for P. mirabilis, and 92% for P. aeruginosa across the various antibiotics for this highly resistant cohort of bacterial isolates.

scholarly journals The Human Gut Microbiome as a Transporter of Antibiotic Resistance Genes between Continents

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (10) ◽  
pp. 6551-6560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Bengtsson-Palme ◽  
Martin Angelin ◽  
Mikael Huss ◽  
Sanela Kjellqvist ◽  
Erik Kristiansson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Metagenomic Sequencing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Exchange Programs ◽  
Indian Peninsula ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Genes Encoding

ABSTRACTPrevious studies of antibiotic resistance dissemination by travel have, by targeting only a select number of cultivable bacterial species, omitted most of the human microbiome. Here, we used explorative shotgun metagenomic sequencing to address the abundance of >300 antibiotic resistance genes in fecal specimens from 35 Swedish students taken before and after exchange programs on the Indian peninsula or in Central Africa. All specimens were additionally cultured for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing enterobacteria, and the isolates obtained were genome sequenced. The overall taxonomic diversity and composition of the gut microbiome remained stable before and after travel, but there was an increasing abundance ofProteobacteriain 25/35 students. The relative abundance of antibiotic resistance genes increased, most prominently for genes encoding resistance to sulfonamide (2.6-fold increase), trimethoprim (7.7-fold), and beta-lactams (2.6-fold). Importantly, the increase observed occurred without any antibiotic intake. Of 18 students visiting the Indian peninsula, 12 acquired ESBL-producingEscherichia coli, while none returning from Africa were positive. Despite deep sequencing efforts, the sensitivity of metagenomics was not sufficient to detect acquisition of the low-abundant genes responsible for the observed ESBL phenotype. In conclusion, metagenomic sequencing of the intestinal microbiome of Swedish students returning from exchange programs in Central Africa or the Indian peninsula showed increased abundance of genes encoding resistance to widely used antibiotics.

scholarly journals IncM Plasmid R1215 Is the Source of Chromosomally Located Regions Containing Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Globally Disseminated Acinetobacter baumannii GC1 and GC2 Clones

mSphere ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace A. Blackwell ◽  
Mohammad Hamidian ◽  
Ruth M. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Acquired Resistance ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Single Step ◽  
Multiple Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Resistance Island

ABSTRACT Two lineages of extensively antibiotic-resistant A. baumannii currently plaguing modern medicine each acquired resistance to all of the original antibiotics (ampicillin, tetracycline, kanamycin, and sulfonamides) by the end of the 1970s and then became resistant to antibiotics from newer families after they were introduced in the 1980s. Here, we show that, in both of the dominant globally disseminated A. baumannii clones, a related set of antibiotic resistance genes was acquired together from the same resistance region that had already evolved in an IncM plasmid. In both cases, the action of IS26 was important in this process, but homologous recombination was also involved. The findings highlight the fact that complex regions carrying several resistance genes can evolve in one location or organism and all or part of the evolved region can then move to other locations and other organisms, conferring resistance to several antibiotics in a single step. Clear similarities between antibiotic resistance islands in the chromosomes of extensively antibiotic-resistant isolates from the two dominant, globally distributed Acinetobacter baumannii clones, GC1 and GC2, suggest a common origin. A close relative of the likely progenitor of both of these regions was found in R1215, a conjugative IncM plasmid from a Serratia marcescens strain isolated prior to 1980. The 37.8-kb resistance region in R1215 lies within the mucB gene and includes aacC1, aadA1, aphA1b, bla TEM, catA1, sul1, and tetA(A), genes that confer resistance to gentamicin, streptomycin and spectinomycin, kanamycin and neomycin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, sulfamethoxazole, and tetracycline, respectively. The backbone of this region is derived from Tn1721 and is interrupted by a hybrid Tn2670 (Tn21)-Tn1696-type transposon, Tn6020, and an incomplete Tn1. After minor rearrangements, this R1215 resistance island can generate AbGRI2-0*, the predicted earliest form of the IS26-bounded AbGRI2-type resistance island of GC2 isolates, and to the multiple antibiotic resistance region (MARR) of AbaR0, the precursor of this region in AbaR-type resistance islands in the GC1 group. A 29.9-kb circle excised by IS26 has been inserted into the A. baumannii chromosome to generate AbGRI2-0*. To create the MARR of AbaR0, a different circular form, again generated by IS26 from an R1215 resistance region variant, has been opened at a different point by recombination with a copy of the sul1 gene already present in the AbaR precursor. Recent IncM plasmids related to R1215 have a variant resistance island containing a bla SHV gene in the same location. IMPORTANCE Two lineages of extensively antibiotic-resistant A. baumannii currently plaguing modern medicine each acquired resistance to all of the original antibiotics (ampicillin, tetracycline, kanamycin, and sulfonamides) by the end of the 1970s and then became resistant to antibiotics from newer families after they were introduced in the 1980s. Here, we show that, in both of the dominant globally disseminated A. baumannii clones, a related set of antibiotic resistance genes was acquired together from the same resistance region that had already evolved in an IncM plasmid. In both cases, the action of IS26 was important in this process, but homologous recombination was also involved. The findings highlight the fact that complex regions carrying several resistance genes can evolve in one location or organism and all or part of the evolved region can then move to other locations and other organisms, conferring resistance to several antibiotics in a single step.

scholarly journals Detection of Variants of the pRAS3, pAB5S9, and pSN254 Plasmids in Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida: Multidrug Resistance, Interspecies Exchanges, and Plasmid Reshaping

2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (12) ◽  
pp. 7367-7374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antony T. Vincent ◽  
Mélanie V. Trudel ◽  
Valérie E. Paquet ◽  
Brian Boyle ◽  
Katherine H. Tanaka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Multidrug Resistance ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Aeromonas Salmonicida ◽  
Fish Farms ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Resistance Plasmids ◽  
High Level

ABSTRACTThe ubiquitous water-borne Gram-negative bacteriumAeromonas salmonicidasubsp.salmonicidais the causative agent of furunculosis, a worldwide disease in fish farms. Plasmids carrying antibiotic resistance genes have already been described for this bacterium. The aim of the present study was to identify and characterize additional multidrug resistance plasmids inA. salmonicidasubsp.salmonicida. We sequenced the plasmids present in two multiple antibiotic-resistant isolates using high-throughput technologies. We also investigated 19 other isolates with various multidrug resistance profiles by genotyping PCR and assessed their resistance to tetracycline. We identified variants of the pAB5S9 and pSN254 plasmids that carry several antibiotic resistance genes and that have been previously reported in bacteria other thanA. salmonicidasubsp.salmonicida, which suggests a high level of interspecies exchange. Genotyping analyses and the antibiotic resistance profiles of the 19 other isolates support the idea that multiple versions of pAB5S9 and pSN254 exist inA. salmonicidasubsp.salmonicida. We also identified variants of the pRAS3 plasmid. The present study revealed thatA. salmonicidasubsp.salmonicidaharbors a wide variety of plasmids, which suggests that this ubiquitous bacterium may contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment.

scholarly journals The Ocean as a Global Reservoir of Antibiotic Resistance Genes

2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (21) ◽  
pp. 7593-7599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Hatosy ◽  
Adam C. Martiny
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Marine Environments ◽  
Human Pathogens ◽  
Functional Metagenomics ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Beta Lactamases ◽  
Genes Encoding

ABSTRACTRecent studies of natural environments have revealed vast genetic reservoirs of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes. Soil bacteria and human pathogens share AR genes, and AR genes have been discovered in a variety of habitats. However, there is little knowledge about the presence and diversity of AR genes in marine environments and which organisms host AR genes. To address this, we identified the diversity of genes conferring resistance to ampicillin, tetracycline, nitrofurantoin, and sulfadimethoxine in diverse marine environments using functional metagenomics (the cloning and screening of random DNA fragments). Marine environments were host to a diversity of AR-conferring genes. Antibiotic-resistant clones were found at all sites, with 28% of the genes identified as known AR genes (encoding beta-lactamases, bicyclomycin resistance pumps, etc.). However, the majority of AR genes were not previously classified as such but had products similar to proteins such as transport pumps, oxidoreductases, and hydrolases. Furthermore, 44% of the genes conferring antibiotic resistance were found in abundant marine taxa (e.g.,Pelagibacter,Prochlorococcus, andVibrio). Therefore, we uncovered a previously unknown diversity of genes that conferred an AR phenotype among marine environments, which makes the ocean a global reservoir of both clinically relevant and potentially novel AR genes.

scholarly journals Extracellular DNA (eDNA): Neglected and Potential Sources of Antibiotic Resistant Genes (ARGs) in the Aquatic Environments

Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 874
Author(s):  
Periyasamy Sivalingam ◽  
John Poté ◽  
Kandasamy Prabakar
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Genetic Material ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Extracellular Dna ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Treatment Technologies ◽  
Environmental Bacteria ◽  
Global Threat ◽  
Potential Public Health

Over the past decades, the rising antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB) are continuing to emerge as a global threat due to potential public health risk. Rapidly evolving antibiotic resistance and its persistence in the environment, have underpinned the need for more studies to identify the possible sources and limit the spread. In this context, not commonly studied and a neglected genetic material called extracellular DNA (eDNA) is gaining increased attention as it can be one of the significant drivers for transmission of extracellular ARGS (eARGs) via horizontal gene transfer (HGT) to competent environmental bacteria and diverse sources of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. Consequently, this review highlights the studies that address the environmental occurrence of eDNA and encoding eARGs and its impact on the environmental resistome. In this review, we also brief the recent dedicated technological advancements that are accelerating extraction of eDNA and the efficiency of treatment technologies in reducing eDNA that focuses on environmental antibiotic resistance and potential ecological health risk.

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