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Shepherd MJ, Fu T, Harrington NE, Kottara A, Cagney K, Chalmers JD, Paterson S, Fothergill JL, Brockhurst MA. Ecological and evolutionary mechanisms driving within-patient emergence of antimicrobial resistance. Nat Rev Microbiol 2024; 22:650-665. [PMID: 38689039 DOI: 10.1038/s41579-024-01041-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
The ecological and evolutionary mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) emergence within patients and how these vary across bacterial infections are poorly understood. Increasingly widespread use of pathogen genome sequencing in the clinic enables a deeper understanding of these processes. In this Review, we explore the clinical evidence to support four major mechanisms of within-patient AMR emergence in bacteria: spontaneous resistance mutations; in situ horizontal gene transfer of resistance genes; selection of pre-existing resistance; and immigration of resistant lineages. Within-patient AMR emergence occurs across a wide range of host niches and bacterial species, but the importance of each mechanism varies between bacterial species and infection sites within the body. We identify potential drivers of such differences and discuss how ecological and evolutionary analysis could be embedded within clinical trials of antimicrobials, which are powerful but underused tools for understanding why these mechanisms vary between pathogens, infections and individuals. Ultimately, improving understanding of how host niche, bacterial species and antibiotic mode of action combine to govern the ecological and evolutionary mechanism of AMR emergence in patients will enable more predictive and personalized diagnosis and antimicrobial therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Shepherd
- Division of Evolution and Genomic Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
| | - Taoran Fu
- Division of Evolution and Genomic Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Niamh E Harrington
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Anastasia Kottara
- Division of Evolution and Genomic Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Kendall Cagney
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - James D Chalmers
- Division of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
| | - Steve Paterson
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Joanne L Fothergill
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Michael A Brockhurst
- Division of Evolution and Genomic Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
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2
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Wang X, Li J, Pan X. How micro-/nano-plastics influence the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes - A review. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 944:173881. [PMID: 38871331 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2024] [Revised: 05/29/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024]
Abstract
Plastic debris such as microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPTs), along with antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), are pervasive in the environment and are recognized as significant global health and ecological concerns. Micro-/nano-plastics (MNPs) have been demonstrated to favor the spread of ARGs by enhancing the frequency of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) through various pathways. This paper comprehensively and systematically reviews the current study with focus on the influence of plastics on the HGT of ARGs. The critical role of MNPs in the HGT of ARGs has been well illustrated in sewage sludge, livestock farms, constructed wetlands and landfill leachate. A summary of the performed HGT assay and the underlying mechanism of plastic-mediated transfer of ARGs is presented in the paper. MNPs could facilitate or inhibit HGT of ARGs, and their effects depend on the type, size, and concentration. This review provides a comprehensive insight into the effects of MNPs on the HGT of ARGs, and offers suggestions for further study. Further research should attempt to develop a standard HGT assay and focus on investigating the impact of different plastics, including the oligomers they released, under real environmental conditions on the HGT of ARGs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaonan Wang
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China; Key Laboratory of Pollution Exposure and Health Intervention of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310015, China; School of Environment Science and Spatial Information, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China; Shaoxing Research Institute of Zhejiang University of Technology, Shaoxing 312000, China
| | - Jiahao Li
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Xiangliang Pan
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China.
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3
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Zhuang M, Yan W, Xiong Y, Wu Z, Cao Y, Sanganyado E, Siame BA, Chen L, Kashi Y, Leung KY. Horizontal plasmid transfer promotes antibiotic resistance in selected bacteria in Chinese frog farms. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2024; 190:108905. [PMID: 39089095 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 07/21/2024] [Indexed: 08/03/2024]
Abstract
The emergence and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the ecosystem are global public health concerns. One Health emphasizes the interconnectivity between different habitats and seeks to optimize animal, human, and environmental health. However, information on the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) within complex microbiomes in natural habitats is scarce. We investigated the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and the spread of ARGs in intensive bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) farms in the Shantou area of China. Antibiotic susceptibilities of 361 strains, combined with microbiome analyses, revealed Escherichia coli, Edwardsiella tarda, Citrobacter and Klebsiella sp. as prevalent multidrug resistant bacteria on these farms. Whole genome sequencing of 95 ARB identified 250 large plasmids that harbored a wide range of ARGs. Plasmid sequences and sediment metagenomes revealed an abundance of tetA, sul1, and aph(3″)-Ib ARGs. Notably, antibiotic resistance (against 15 antibiotics) highly correlated with plasmid-borne rather than chromosome-borne ARGs. Based on sequence similarities, most plasmids (62%) fell into 32 distinct groups, indicating a potential for horizontal plasmid transfer (HPT) within the frog farm microbiome. HPT was confirmed in inter- and intra-species conjugation experiments. Furthermore, identical mobile ARGs, flanked by mobile genetic elements (MGEs), were found in different locations on the same plasmid, or on different plasmids residing in the same or different hosts. Our results suggest a synergy between MGEs and HPT to facilitate ARGs dissemination in frog farms. Mining public databases retrieved similar plasmids from different bacterial species found in other environmental niches globally. Our findings underscore the importance of HPT in mediating the spread of ARGs in frog farms and other microbiomes of the ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mei Zhuang
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering Program, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Shantou 515063, China
| | - Waner Yan
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, POB 12272, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Yifei Xiong
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, POB 12272, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Zhilin Wu
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, POB 12272, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Yuping Cao
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering Program, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Shantou 515063, China
| | - Edmond Sanganyado
- Department of Applied Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Bupe A Siame
- Department of Biology, Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia V2Y 1Y1, Canada
| | - Liang Chen
- Department of Computer Science, College of Mathematics and Computer, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, China.
| | - Yechezkel Kashi
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Ka Yin Leung
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering Program, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Shantou 515063, China.
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4
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Ramanan V, Sarkar IN. Augmenting bacterial similarity measures using a graph-based genome representation. mSystems 2024; 9:e0049724. [PMID: 38940518 PMCID: PMC11265277 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00497-24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Relationships between bacterial taxa are traditionally defined using 16S rRNA nucleotide similarity or average nucleotide identity. Improvements in sequencing technology provide additional pairwise information on genome sequences, which may provide valuable information on genomic relationships. Mapping orthologous gene locations between genome pairs, known as synteny, is typically implemented in the discovery of new species and has not been systematically applied to bacterial genomes. Using a data set of 378 bacterial genomes, we developed and tested a new measure of synteny similarity between a pair of genomes, which was scaled onto 16S rRNA distance using covariance matrices. Based on the input gene functions used (i.e., core, antibiotic resistance, and virulence), we observed varying topological arrangements of bacterial relationship networks by applying (i) complete linkage hierarchical clustering and (ii) K-nearest neighbor graph structures to synteny-scaled 16S data. Our metric improved clustering quality comparatively to state-of-the-art average nucleotide identity metrics while preserving clustering assignments for the highest similarity relationships. Our findings indicate that syntenic relationships provide more granular and interpretable relationships for within-genera taxa compared to pairwise similarity measures, particularly in functional contexts. IMPORTANCE Given the prevalence and necessity of the 16S rRNA measure in bacterial identification and analysis, this additional analysis adds a functional and synteny-based layer to the identification of relatives and clustering of bacteria genomes. It is also of computational interest to model the bacterial genome as a graph structure, which presents new avenues of genomic analysis for bacteria and their closely related strains and species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivek Ramanan
- Center of Computational Molecular Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
- Center for Biomedical Informatics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Indra Neil Sarkar
- Center of Computational Molecular Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
- Center for Biomedical Informatics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
- Rhode Island Quality Institute, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
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Dmitrijeva M, Tackmann J, Matias Rodrigues JF, Huerta-Cepas J, Coelho LP, von Mering C. A global survey of prokaryotic genomes reveals the eco-evolutionary pressures driving horizontal gene transfer. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:986-998. [PMID: 38443606 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02357-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
Horizontal gene transfer, the exchange of genetic material through means other than reproduction, is a fundamental force in prokaryotic genome evolution. Genomic persistence of horizontally transferred genes has been shown to be influenced by both ecological and evolutionary factors. However, there is limited availability of ecological information about species other than the habitats from which they were isolated, which has prevented a deeper exploration of ecological contributions to horizontal gene transfer. Here we focus on transfers detected through comparison of individual gene trees to the species tree, assessing the distribution of gene-exchanging prokaryotes across over a million environmental sequencing samples. By analysing detected horizontal gene transfer events, we show distinct functional profiles for recent versus old events. Although most genes transferred are part of the accessory genome, genes transferred earlier in evolution tend to be more ubiquitous within present-day species. We find that co-occurring, interacting and high-abundance species tend to exchange more genes. Finally, we show that host-associated specialist species are most likely to exchange genes with other host-associated specialist species, whereas species found across different habitats have similar gene exchange rates irrespective of their preferred habitat. Our study covers an unprecedented scale of integrated horizontal gene transfer and environmental information, highlighting broad eco-evolutionary trends.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marija Dmitrijeva
- Department of Molecular Life Sciences and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Biology, Institute of Microbiology and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Janko Tackmann
- Department of Molecular Life Sciences and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Jaime Huerta-Cepas
- Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)-Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA-CSIC), Campus de Montegancedo-UPM, Madrid, Spain
| | - Luis Pedro Coelho
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- Centre for Microbiome Research, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia.
| | - Christian von Mering
- Department of Molecular Life Sciences and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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García-Bayona L, Said N, Coyne MJ, Flores K, Elmekki NM, Sheahan ML, Camacho AG, Hutt K, Yildiz FH, Kovács ÁT, Waldor MK, Comstock LE. A pervasive large conjugative plasmid mediates multispecies biofilm formation in the intestinal microbiota increasing resilience to perturbations. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.29.590671. [PMID: 38746121 PMCID: PMC11092513 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.29.590671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Although horizontal gene transfer is pervasive in the intestinal microbiota, we understand only superficially the roles of most exchanged genes and how the mobile repertoire affects community dynamics. Similarly, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the ability of a community to recover after a perturbation. Here, we identified and functionally characterized a large conjugative plasmid that is one of the most frequently transferred elements among Bacteroidales species and is ubiquitous in diverse human populations. This plasmid encodes both an extracellular polysaccharide and fimbriae, which promote the formation of multispecies biofilms in the mammalian gut. We use a hybridization-based approach to visualize biofilms in clarified whole colon tissue with unprecedented 3D spatial resolution. These biofilms increase bacterial survival to common stressors encountered in the gut, increasing strain resiliency, and providing a rationale for the plasmid's recent spread and high worldwide prevalence.
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Sheinman M, Arndt PF, Massip F. Modeling the mosaic structure of bacterial genomes to infer their evolutionary history. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2313367121. [PMID: 38517978 PMCID: PMC10990148 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313367121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024] Open
Abstract
The chronology and phylogeny of bacterial evolution are difficult to reconstruct due to a scarce fossil record. The analysis of bacterial genomes remains challenging because of large sequence divergence, the plasticity of bacterial genomes due to frequent gene loss, horizontal gene transfer, and differences in selective pressure from one locus to another. Therefore, taking advantage of the rich and rapidly accumulating genomic data requires accurate modeling of genome evolution. An important technical consideration is that loci with high effective mutation rates may diverge beyond the detection limit of the alignment algorithms used, biasing the genome-wide divergence estimates toward smaller divergences. In this article, we propose a novel method to gain insight into bacterial evolution based on statistical properties of genome comparisons. We find that the length distribution of sequence matches is shaped by the effective mutation rates of different loci, by the horizontal transfers, and by the aligner sensitivity. Based on these inputs, we build a model and show that it accounts for the empirically observed distributions, taking the Enterobacteriaceae family as an example. Our method allows to distinguish segments of vertical and horizontal origins and to estimate the time divergence and exchange rate between any pair of taxa from genome-wide alignments. Based on the estimated time divergences, we construct a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree to demonstrate the accuracy of the method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Sheinman
- Institute for Advanced Studies, Sevastopol State University, Sevastopol299053, Crimea
| | - Peter F. Arndt
- Department of Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin12163, Germany
| | - Florian Massip
- Department U900, Centre for Computational Biology, Mines Paris, PSL University, Paris75006, France
- Department U900, Institut Curie, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Paris75005, France
- INSERM, U900, Paris75005, France
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Li X, Xu L, Demaree B, Noecker C, Bisanz JE, Weisgerber DW, Modavi C, Turnbaugh PJ, Abate AR. Microbiome single cell atlases generated with a commercial instrument. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.08.08.551713. [PMID: 37609281 PMCID: PMC10441329 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.08.551713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
Single cell sequencing is useful for resolving complex systems into their composite cell types and computationally mining them for unique features that are masked in pooled sequencing. However, while commercial instruments have made single cell analysis widespread for mammalian cells, analogous tools for microbes are limited. Here, we present EASi-seq (Easily Accessible Single microbe sequencing). By adapting the single cell workflow of the commercial Mission Bio Tapestri instrument, this method allows for efficient sequencing of individual microbes' genomes. EASi-seq allows thousands of microbes to be sequenced per run and, as we show, can generate detailed atlases of human and environmental microbiomes. The ability to capture large shotgun genome datasets from thousands of single microbes provides new opportunities in discovering and analyzing species subpopulations. To facilitate this, we develop a companion bioinformatic pipeline that clusters microbes by similarity, improving whole genome assembly, strain identification, taxonomic classification, and gene annotation. In addition, we demonstrate integration of metagenomic contigs with the EASi-seq datasets to reduce capture bias and increase coverage. Overall, EASi-seq enables high quality single cell genomic data for microbiome samples using an accessible workflow that can be run on a commercially available platform.
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9
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Zhu X, Wang X, Wang F, Tian X, Pang J. The integrative and conjugative element ICECiPOL15 mediates horizontal transfer of β-lactam resistance gene in Chryseobacterium indoltheticum POL15. J Glob Antimicrob Resist 2024; 36:223-229. [PMID: 38185239 DOI: 10.1016/j.jgar.2023.12.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) from the environment, including agricultural sources, is of increasing concern. In this study, we examined the antibiotic resistance profile and genomic sequence of a strain of Chryseobacterium indoltheticum obtained from an agricultural location. METHODS The multidrug-resistant bacterial strain POL15 was isolated from the wastewater of a livestock farm in China. Whole-genome sequencing was performed followed by bioinformatics analyses to identify integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) and ARGs. Mating assays were performed to analyse ICE transferability. RESULTS Whole-genome sequencing and annotation showed that the genome of POL15 encodes ARGs. Additionally, an ICE named ICECiPOL15, which carries a class C β-lactamase-encoding gene blaAQU, was identified in the POL15 genome. Genes encoding an integrase, an excisionase, a relaxase, a type IV coupling protein and conjugative transposon proteins involved in a type IV secretion system were also identified in ICECiPOL15. Sequence alignment revealed that ICECiPOL15 might have evolved from other Chryseobacterium species. The horizontal transferability of ICECiPOL15 was demonstrated by mating experiments between C. indoltheticum POL15 and Escherichia coli DL21. CONCLUSIONS This study represents the first characterization of a mobilizable antibiotic resistance ICE in a species of C. indoltheticum and provides evidence that C. indoltheticum strains could be important reservoirs and vehicles for ARGs on livestock farms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyan Zhu
- Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ji'nan, 250014, China
| | - Xiangpeng Wang
- Biomedical Sciences College & Shandong Medicinal Biotechnology Centre, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Ji'nan, 250117, China
| | - Fengtian Wang
- Jinan Municipal Minzu Hospital, Ji'nan, 250001, China
| | - Xinyi Tian
- Biomedical Sciences College & Shandong Medicinal Biotechnology Centre, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Ji'nan, 250117, China
| | - Jingxiang Pang
- Biomedical Sciences College & Shandong Medicinal Biotechnology Centre, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Ji'nan, 250117, China.
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Wang T, Xu Y, Ling W, Mosa A, Liu S, Lin Z, Wang H, Hu X. Dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes is regulated by iron oxides: Insight into the influence on bacterial transformation. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2024; 185:108499. [PMID: 38368718 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 12/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
The transportation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in manure-soil-plant continuums poses risks to human health. Horizontal gene transfer, particularly for bacterial transformation, is an important way for ARG dissemination. As crucial components in soils, iron oxides impacted the fates of various abiotic and biotic contaminants due to their active properties. However, whether they can influence the transformation of ARGs is unknown, which waits to be figured out to boost the assessment and control of ARG spread risks. In this study, we have investigated the effects of goethite, hematite, and magnetite (0-250 mg/L, with sizes < 100 nm and > 100 nm) on the transfer of ampicillin resistance genes to Escherichia coli cells. At lower iron oxide concentrations, the transformation of ARGs was first facilitated (transformation frequency reached up to 3.38-fold higher), but the facilitating effects gradually weakened and eventually disappeared as concentrations further increased. Particle size and iron oxide type were not the universal determinants controlling the transformation. At lower concentrations, iron oxides interacted with proteins and phospholipids in E. coli envelope structures, and induced the overgeneration of intracellular reactive oxygen species. Consequently, they led to pore formation and permeability enhancement on the cell membrane, thus promoting the transformation. The facilitation was also associated with the carrier-like effect of iron oxides for antibiotic resistance plasmids. At higher concentrations, the weakened facilitations were attributed to the aggregation of iron oxides. In this study, we highlight the crucial roles of the concentrations (contents) of iron oxides on the dissemination of ARGs in soils; this study may serve as a reference for ARG pollution control in future agricultural production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Wang
- Institute of Organic Contaminant Control and Soil Remediation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China
| | - Yanxing Xu
- Institute of Organic Contaminant Control and Soil Remediation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China
| | - Wanting Ling
- Institute of Organic Contaminant Control and Soil Remediation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China
| | - Ahmed Mosa
- Soils Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, 35516 Mansoura, Egypt
| | - Si Liu
- Institute of Organic Contaminant Control and Soil Remediation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China
| | - Zhipeng Lin
- Institute of Organic Contaminant Control and Soil Remediation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China
| | - Hefei Wang
- Institute of Organic Contaminant Control and Soil Remediation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China
| | - Xiaojie Hu
- Institute of Organic Contaminant Control and Soil Remediation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
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11
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Cui Y, Zhao H, Zhang C. Zinc oxide nanoparticles enhance plasmid transfer among growth-promoting endophytes in Arabidopsis thaliana. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 913:169682. [PMID: 38163607 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2023] [Revised: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Nanoparticles (NPs) hold great promise for agricultural applications, yet their potential impact on exogenous gene transfer within plant remains poorly understood. In this study, we utilized the non-conjugative plasmid pCAMBIA1300, harboring the bialaphos resistance (bar) gene expressed in plant and the kanamycin resistance (kanR) gene as selectable marker in bacteria. Our results revealed a significant increase in the transfer of plasmid (via carrier Escherichia coli DH5α), both intra- and inter-species within the endophyte, when Arabidopsis thaliana was exposed to environmentally relevant level of zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs at a concentration of 0.7 μg/mL throughout its lifespan. Intriguingly, the plasmid exhibited selective transfer to growth-promoting endophytes, such as Enterobacter, Serratia, and Achromobacter, with the presence of ZnO NPs expanding the pool of potential recipients. This result is due to the facilitation of an endophytic and mutualistic lifestyle of invasive E. coli DH5α and the enrichment of beneficial bacteria aided by ZnO NPs. The plant's descendant generations did not express the bar gene, and the endophytes carrying the exogenous plasmid did not transmit it to sub sequent generation. This research provides crucial insights for assessing the potential risks associated with gene contamination and ensuring the safe and sustainable use of NPs in agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yueting Cui
- School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100857, China
| | - Huiru Zhao
- School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100857, China
| | - Chengdong Zhang
- School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100857, China.
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12
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Yang T, Wang X, Jiang L, Sui X, Bi X, Jiang B, Zhang Z, Li X. Antibiotic resistance genes associated with size-segregated bioaerosols from wastewater treatment plants: A review. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024; 343:123169. [PMID: 38128715 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
The antibiotic-resistant pollution in size-segregated bioaerosols from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is of increasing concern due to its public health risks, but an elaborate review is still lacking. This work overviewed the profile, mobility, pathogenic hosts, source, and risks of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in size-segregated bioaerosols from WWTPs. The dominant ARG type in size-segregated bioaerosols from WWTPs was multidrug resistance genes. Treatment units that equipped with mechanical facilities and aeration devices, such as grilles, grit chambers, biochemical reaction tanks, and sludge treatment units, were the primary sources of bioaerosol antibiotic resistome in WWTPs. Higher enrichment of antibiotic resistome in particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of <2.5 μm, was found along the upwind-downwind-WWTPs gradient. Only a small portion of ARGs in inhalable bioaerosols from WWTPs were flanked by mobile genetic elements. The pathogens with multiple drug resistance had been found in size-segregated bioaerosols from WWTPs. Different ARGs or antibiotic resistant bacteria have different aerosolization potential associated with bioaerosols from various treatment processes. The validation of pathogenic antibiotic resistance bacteria, deeper investigation of ARG mobility, emission mechanism of antibiotic resistome, and development of treatment technologies, should be systematically considered in future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tang Yang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266033, PR China.
| | - Xuyi Wang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266033, PR China.
| | - Lu Jiang
- College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, PR China.
| | - Xin Sui
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266033, PR China.
| | - Xuejun Bi
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266033, PR China.
| | - Bo Jiang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266033, PR China.
| | - Zhanpeng Zhang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266033, PR China.
| | - Xinlong Li
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266033, PR China.
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13
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Schwarzerova J, Zeman M, Babak V, Jureckova K, Nykrynova M, Varga M, Weckwerth W, Dolejska M, Provaznik V, Rychlik I, Cejkova D. Detecting horizontal gene transfer among microbiota: an innovative pipeline for identifying co-shared genes within the mobilome through advanced comparative analysis. Microbiol Spectr 2024; 12:e0196423. [PMID: 38099617 PMCID: PMC10782964 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.01964-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a key driver in the evolution of bacterial genomes. The acquisition of genes mediated by HGT may enable bacteria to adapt to ever-changing environmental conditions. Long-term application of antibiotics in intensive agriculture is associated with the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes among bacteria with the consequences causing public health concern. Commensal farm-animal-associated gut microbiota are considered the reservoir of the resistance genes. Therefore, in this study, we identified known and not-yet characterized mobilized genes originating from chicken and porcine fecal samples using our innovative pipeline followed by network analysis to provide appropriate visualization to support proper interpretation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jana Schwarzerova
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic
- Molecular Systems Biology (MOSYS), Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Michal Zeman
- Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
| | | | - Katerina Jureckova
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Marketa Nykrynova
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Margaret Varga
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Wolfram Weckwerth
- Molecular Systems Biology (MOSYS), Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Metabolomics Center (VIME), University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Monika Dolejska
- Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Laboratory Medicine, The University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Pilsen, Czech Republic
| | - Valentine Provaznik
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Ivan Rychlik
- Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Darina Cejkova
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic
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14
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Wang X, Zhang H, Yu S, Li D, Gillings MR, Ren H, Mao D, Guo J, Luo Y. Inter-plasmid transfer of antibiotic resistance genes accelerates antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens. THE ISME JOURNAL 2024; 18:wrad032. [PMID: 38366209 PMCID: PMC10881300 DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wrad032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Revised: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is a major threat for public health. Plasmids play a critical role in the spread of antimicrobial resistance via horizontal gene transfer between bacterial species. However, it remains unclear how plasmids originally recruit and assemble various antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Here, we track ARG recruitment and assembly in clinically relevant plasmids by combining a systematic analysis of 2420 complete plasmid genomes and experimental validation. Results showed that ARG transfer across plasmids is prevalent, and 87% ARGs were observed to potentially transfer among various plasmids among 8229 plasmid-borne ARGs. Interestingly, recruitment and assembly of ARGs occur mostly among compatible plasmids within the same bacterial cell, with over 88% of ARG transfers occurring between compatible plasmids. Integron and insertion sequences drive the ongoing ARG acquisition by plasmids, especially in which IS26 facilitates 63.1% of ARG transfer events among plasmids. In vitro experiment validated the important role of IS26 involved in transferring gentamicin resistance gene aacC1 between compatible plasmids. Network analysis showed four beta-lactam genes (blaTEM-1, blaNDM-4, blaKPC-2, and blaSHV-1) shuffling among 1029 plasmids and 45 clinical pathogens, suggesting that clinically alarming ARGs transferred accelerate the propagation of antibiotic resistance in clinical pathogens. ARGs in plasmids are also able to transmit across clinical and environmental boundaries, in terms of the high-sequence similarities of plasmid-borne ARGs between clinical and environmental plasmids. This study demonstrated that inter-plasmid ARG transfer is a universal mechanism for plasmid to recruit various ARGs, thus advancing our understanding of the emergence of multidrug-resistant plasmids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolong Wang
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Hanhui Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Shenbo Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Donghang Li
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Michael R Gillings
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Hongqiang Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Daqing Mao
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Yi Luo
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
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15
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Xing Y, Zhang Y, Zhu X, Wang C, Zhang T, Cheng F, Qu J, Peijnenburg WJGM. A highly selective and sensitive electrochemical sensor for tetracycline resistant genes detection based on the non-covalent interaction of graphene oxide and nucleobase. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 906:167615. [PMID: 37806581 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are causing worldwide environmental problems, however, the traditional analytical methods and test equipment for them are time-consuming and expensive. The electrochemical sensor using the non-covalent bond between graphene oxide (GO) and single-stranded tet (ss-tet) was established for specific tetracycline resistance genes (tet, composed of ss-tet and complementary ss-tet (ss-tet') in water) detection, which preparation time was only 35 min and far less than most reported sensors based on covalent bond. As the result of the detection for tet, the developed sensor not only had the low detection limit of 50.0 pM (8.1 × 102 copies·mL-1), the short detection time within 42 min, but also had satisfactory stability, excellent reproducibility, and highly selectivity (RSD < 4.43 %). Besides, it also had acceptable accuracy comparing to the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and PCR array in tet detection. Noticeably, it also had been successfully applied to tetA detection in different water samples. In brief, the prepared non-covalent bond sensor is simple, rapid, and suitable for highly selective and sensitive detection of the ARGs in actual water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Xing
- School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130117, China
| | - Yanan Zhang
- School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130117, China
| | - Xiaolin Zhu
- School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130117, China
| | - Chengzhi Wang
- Center for Water Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Tingting Zhang
- School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130117, China
| | - Fangyuan Cheng
- School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130117, China
| | - Jiao Qu
- School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130117, China.
| | - Willie J G M Peijnenburg
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Center for Safety of Substances and Products, Bilthoven, the Netherlands
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16
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Diebold PJ, Rhee MW, Shi Q, Trung NV, Umrani F, Ahmed S, Kulkarni V, Deshpande P, Alexander M, Thi Hoa N, Christakis NA, Iqbal NT, Ali SA, Mathad JS, Brito IL. Clinically relevant antibiotic resistance genes are linked to a limited set of taxa within gut microbiome worldwide. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7366. [PMID: 37963868 PMCID: PMC10645880 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42998-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The acquisition of antimicrobial resistance (AR) genes has rendered important pathogens nearly or fully unresponsive to antibiotics. It has been suggested that pathogens acquire AR traits from the gut microbiota, which collectively serve as a global reservoir for AR genes conferring resistance to all classes of antibiotics. However, only a subset of AR genes confers resistance to clinically relevant antibiotics, and, although these AR gene profiles are well-characterized for common pathogens, less is known about their taxonomic associations and transfer potential within diverse members of the gut microbiota. We examined a collection of 14,850 human metagenomes and 1666 environmental metagenomes from 33 countries, in addition to nearly 600,000 isolate genomes, to gain insight into the global prevalence and taxonomic range of clinically relevant AR genes. We find that several of the most concerning AR genes, such as those encoding the cephalosporinase CTX-M and carbapenemases KPC, IMP, NDM, and VIM, remain taxonomically restricted to Proteobacteria. Even cfiA, the most common carbapenemase gene within the human gut microbiome, remains tightly restricted to Bacteroides, despite being found on a mobilizable plasmid. We confirmed these findings in gut microbiome samples from India, Honduras, Pakistan, and Vietnam, using a high-sensitivity single-cell fusion PCR approach. Focusing on a set of genes encoding carbapenemases and cephalosporinases, thus far restricted to Bacteroides species, we find that few mutations are required for efficacy in a different phylum, raising the question of why these genes have not spread more widely. Overall, these data suggest that globally prevalent, clinically relevant AR genes have not yet established themselves across diverse commensal gut microbiota.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Diebold
- Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Matthew W Rhee
- Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Qiaojuan Shi
- Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Nguyen Vinh Trung
- Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) in Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh city, Viet Nam
| | | | | | - Vandana Kulkarni
- Johns Hopkins University Clinical Trials Unit, Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Prasad Deshpande
- Johns Hopkins University Clinical Trials Unit, Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Mallika Alexander
- Johns Hopkins University Clinical Trials Unit, Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Ngo Thi Hoa
- Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) in Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh city, Viet Nam
- Centre for Tropical Medicine, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Microbiology Department and Center for Tropical Medicine Research, Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
| | | | | | | | | | - Ilana L Brito
- Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
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17
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An T, Cai Y, Li G, Li S, Wong PK, Guo J, Zhao H. Prevalence and transmission risk of colistin and multidrug resistance in long-distance coastal aquaculture. ISME COMMUNICATIONS 2023; 3:115. [PMID: 37935916 PMCID: PMC10630474 DOI: 10.1038/s43705-023-00321-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
Due to the wide use of antibiotics, intensive aquaculture farms have been recognized as a significant reservoir of antibiotic resistomes. Although the prevalence of colistin resistance genes and multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDRB) has been documented, empirical evidence for the transmission of colistin and multidrug resistance between bacterial communities in aquaculture farms through horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is lacking. Here, we report the prevalence and transmission risk of colistin and multidrug resistance in 27 aquaculture water samples from 9 aquaculture zones from over 5000 km of subtropical coastlines in southern China. The colistin resistance gene mcr-1, mobile genetic element (MGE) intl1 and 13 typical antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were prevalent in all the aquaculture water samples. Most types of antibiotic (especially colistin) resistance are transmissible in bacterial communities based on evidence from laboratory conjugation and transformation experiments. Diverse MDRB were detected in most of the aquaculture water samples, and a strain with high-level colistin resistance, named Ralstonia pickettii MCR, was isolated. The risk of horizontal transfer of the colistin resistance of R. pickettii MCR through conjugation and transformation was low, but the colistin resistance could be steadily transmitted to offspring through vertical transfer. The findings have important implications for the future regulation of antibiotic use in aquaculture farms globally to address the growing threat posed by antibiotic resistance to human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taicheng An
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Pollution Control, Key Laboratory of City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
| | - Yiwei Cai
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Pollution Control, Key Laboratory of City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Guiying Li
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Pollution Control, Key Laboratory of City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Shaoting Li
- College of Biological and Pharmaceutical Science, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Po Keung Wong
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Pollution Control, Key Laboratory of City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
| | - Huijun Zhao
- Centre for Clean Environment and Energy, and Griffith School of Environment, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, 4222, Australia
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18
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Wu D, Xie J, Liu Y, Jin L, Li G, An T. Metagenomic and Machine Learning Meta-Analyses Characterize Airborne Resistome Features and Their Hosts in China Megacities. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:16414-16423. [PMID: 37844141 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c02593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
Urban ambient air contains a cocktail of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) emitted from various anthropogenic sites. However, what is largely unknown is whether the airborne ARGs exhibit site-specificity or their pathogenic hosts persistently exist in the air. Here, by retrieving 1.2 Tb metagenomic sequences (n = 136), we examined the airborne ARGs from hospitals, municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and landfills, public transit centers, and urban sites located in seven of China's megacities. As validated by the multiple machine learning-based classification and optimization, ARGs' site-specificity was found to be the most apparent in hospital air, with featured resistances to clinical-used rifamycin and (glyco)peptides, whereas the more environmentally prevalent ARGs (e.g., resistance to sulfonamide and tetracycline) were identified being more specific to the nonclinical ambient air settings. Nearly all metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) that possessed the site-featured resistances were identified as pathogenic taxa, which occupied the upper-representative niches in all the neutrally distributed airborne microbial community (P < 0.01, m = 0.22-0.50, R2 = 0.41-0.86). These niche-favored putative resistant pathogens highlighted the enduring antibiotic resistance hazards in the studied urban air. These findings are critical, albeit the least appreciated until our study, to gauge the airborne dimension of resistomes' features and fates in urban atmospheric environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Wu
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Biotransformation of Organic Solid Waste, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Chongqing Institute of East China Normal University, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, P. R. China
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Jiawen Xie
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Yangying Liu
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Ling Jin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Guiying Li
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Taicheng An
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
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19
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Chen Y, Lu Y, Xu J, Feng Y, Li X. Antibiotics and their associations with antibiotic resistance genes and microbial communities in estuarine and coastal sediment of Quanzhou Bay, Southeast China. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2023; 195:115539. [PMID: 37714074 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2023] [Revised: 09/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
The antibiotic concentrations spanned from 11.2 to 173.8 ng/g, with quinolones and tetracyclines being observed to be prevalent. The amount of microbial biomass as determined by Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) ranged from 2.92 to 10.99 mg kg-1, with G- bacteria dominating. A total of 254 distinct ARGs and 10 MEGs were identified, with multidrug ARGs having the highest relative abundance (1.18 × 10-2 to 3.00 × 10-1 copies/16S rRNA gene copies), while vancomycin and sulfonamide resistance genes were the least abundant. Results from canonical-correlation analyses combined with redundancy analysis indicated that macrolides were significantly related to the shifts of microbial community structure in sediments, particularly in G+ bacteria that were more sensitive to antibiotic residues. It was observed that sulfonamide ARGs had a greater correlation with residual antibiotics than other ARGs. This study provided a field evidence that multiple residual antibiotics from coastal sites could cause fundamental shifts in microbial community and their associated ARGs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongshan Chen
- Key Laboratory of Rural Environmental Remediation and Waste Recycling (Quanzhou Normal University), Fujian Province University, 362000, Quanzhou 362000, PR China; School of Resource and Environmental Science, Quanzhou Normal University, Quanzhou 362000, PR China.
| | - Yue Lu
- School of Resource and Environmental Science, Quanzhou Normal University, Quanzhou 362000, PR China
| | - Jinghua Xu
- Key Laboratory of Rural Environmental Remediation and Waste Recycling (Quanzhou Normal University), Fujian Province University, 362000, Quanzhou 362000, PR China; School of Resource and Environmental Science, Quanzhou Normal University, Quanzhou 362000, PR China
| | - Ying Feng
- Key Laboratory of Rural Environmental Remediation and Waste Recycling (Quanzhou Normal University), Fujian Province University, 362000, Quanzhou 362000, PR China; School of Resource and Environmental Science, Quanzhou Normal University, Quanzhou 362000, PR China
| | - Xiaofeng Li
- School of Resource and Environmental Science, Quanzhou Normal University, Quanzhou 362000, PR China
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20
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Yang T, Wang X, Hui X, Jiang L, Bi X, Ng HY, Zheng X, Huang S, Jiang B, Zhou X. Antibiotic resistome associated with inhalable bioaerosols from wastewater to atmosphere: Mobility, bacterial hosts, source contributions and resistome risk. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 243:120403. [PMID: 37506636 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistome can be carried by the bioaerosols and propagate from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to the atmosphere, but questions remain regarding their mobility, bacterial hosts, source, and resistome risk. Here, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was collected within and around a large WWTP and analyzed by the metagenomic assembly and binning. PM2.5 was discovered with increasing enrichment of total antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), potentially mobile ARGs, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) along the WWTP-downwind-upwind gradient. Some ARGs were found to be flanked by certain mobile genetic elements and generally mediated by plasmids in WWTP-PM2.5. Totally, 198 metagenome assembled genomes assigning to seven phyla were identified as the ARB, and a contig-based analysis indicated that 32 pathogens were revealed harboring at least two ARGs. Despite disparate aerosolization potentials of ARGs or ARB at different WWTP units, high resistome risks were found, along with the dominant contribution of wastewater for airborne ARGs (44.79-62.82%) and ARB (35.03-40.10%). Among the detected WWTP matrices, the sludge dewatering room was characterized by the highest resistome risk associated with PM2.5. This study underscores the dispersion of ARGs and ARB from WWTPs to the atmosphere and provides a reference for managing risks of antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tang Yang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266033, PR China.
| | - Xuyi Wang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266033, PR China
| | - Xiaoliang Hui
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266033, PR China
| | - Lu Jiang
- College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, PR China
| | - Xuejun Bi
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266033, PR China
| | - How Yong Ng
- Center for Water Research, Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, 519087, PR China
| | - Xiang Zheng
- School of Environment & Natural Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, PR China
| | - Shujuan Huang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266033, PR China
| | - Bo Jiang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266033, PR China
| | - Xiaolin Zhou
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266033, PR China
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21
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Li L, Liu Y, Xiao Q, Xiao Z, Meng D, Yang Z, Deng W, Yin H, Liu Z. Dissecting the HGT network of carbon metabolic genes in soil-borne microbiota. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1173748. [PMID: 37485539 PMCID: PMC10361621 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1173748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The microbiota inhabiting soil plays a significant role in essential life-supporting element cycles. Here, we investigated the occurrence of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and established the HGT network of carbon metabolic genes in 764 soil-borne microbiota genomes. Our study sheds light on the crucial role of HGT components in microbiological diversification that could have far-reaching implications in understanding how these microbial communities adapt to changing environments, ultimately impacting agricultural practices. In the overall HGT network of carbon metabolic genes in soil-borne microbiota, a total of 6,770 nodes and 3,812 edges are present. Among these nodes, phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, Bacteroidota, and Firmicutes are predominant. Regarding specific classes, Actinobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidia, Actinomycetia, Betaproteobacteria, and Clostridia are dominant. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) functional assignments of glycosyltransferase (18.5%), glycolysis/gluconeogenesis (8.8%), carbohydrate-related transporter (7.9%), fatty acid biosynthesis (6.5%), benzoate degradation (3.1%) and butanoate metabolism (3.0%) are primarily identified. Glycosyltransferase involved in cell wall biosynthesis, glycosylation, and primary/secondary metabolism (with 363 HGT entries), ranks first overwhelmingly in the list of most frequently identified carbon metabolic HGT enzymes, followed by pimeloyl-ACP methyl ester carboxylesterase, alcohol dehydrogenase, and 3-oxoacyl-ACP reductase. Such HGT events mainly occur in the peripheral functions of the carbon metabolic pathway instead of the core section. The inter-microbe HGT genetic traits in soil-borne microbiota genetic sequences that we recognized, as well as their involvement in the metabolism and regulation processes of carbon organic, suggest a pervasive and substantial effect of HGT on the evolution of microbes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liangzhi Li
- School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Yongjun Liu
- Hunan Tobacco Science Institute, Changsha, China
| | - Qinzhi Xiao
- Yongzhou Tobacco Company of Hunan Province, Yongzhou, China
| | - Zhipeng Xiao
- Hengyang Tobacco Company of Hunan Province, Hengyang, China
| | - Delong Meng
- School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Zhaoyue Yang
- School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Wenqiao Deng
- Changsha Institute of Agricultural Science, Changsha, China
| | - Huaqun Yin
- School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Zhenghua Liu
- School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha, China
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22
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Skalnik CJ, Cheah SY, Yang MY, Wolff MB, Spangler RK, Talman L, Morrison JH, Peirce SM, Agmon E, Covert MW. Whole-cell modeling of E. coli colonies enables quantification of single-cell heterogeneity in antibiotic responses. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011232. [PMID: 37327241 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance poses mounting risks to human health, as current antibiotics are losing efficacy against increasingly resistant pathogenic bacteria. Of particular concern is the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains, which has been rapid among Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli. A large body of work has established that antibiotic resistance mechanisms depend on phenotypic heterogeneity, which may be mediated by stochastic expression of antibiotic resistance genes. The link between such molecular-level expression and the population levels that result is complex and multi-scale. Therefore, to better understand antibiotic resistance, what is needed are new mechanistic models that reflect single-cell phenotypic dynamics together with population-level heterogeneity, as an integrated whole. In this work, we sought to bridge single-cell and population-scale modeling by building upon our previous experience in "whole-cell" modeling, an approach which integrates mathematical and mechanistic descriptions of biological processes to recapitulate the experimentally observed behaviors of entire cells. To extend whole-cell modeling to the "whole-colony" scale, we embedded multiple instances of a whole-cell E. coli model within a model of a dynamic spatial environment, allowing us to run large, parallelized simulations on the cloud that contained all the molecular detail of the previous whole-cell model and many interactive effects of a colony growing in a shared environment. The resulting simulations were used to explore the response of E. coli to two antibiotics with different mechanisms of action, tetracycline and ampicillin, enabling us to identify sub-generationally-expressed genes, such as the beta-lactamase ampC, which contributed greatly to dramatic cellular differences in steady-state periplasmic ampicillin and was a significant factor in determining cell survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Skalnik
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Sean Y Cheah
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Mica Y Yang
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Mattheus B Wolff
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Ryan K Spangler
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Lee Talman
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Jerry H Morrison
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Shayn M Peirce
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Eran Agmon
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Markus W Covert
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
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23
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Li B, Yan T. Metagenomic next generation sequencing for studying antibiotic resistance genes in the environment. ADVANCES IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY 2023; 123:41-89. [PMID: 37400174 DOI: 10.1016/bs.aambs.2023.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
Bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a persisting and growing threat to human health. Characterization of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment is important to understand and control ARG-associated microbial risks. Numerous challenges exist in monitoring ARGs in the environment, due to the extraordinary diversity of ARGs, low abundance of ARGs with respect to the complex environmental microbiomes, difficulties in linking ARGs with bacterial hosts by molecular methods, difficulties in achieving quantification and high throughput simultaneously, difficulties in assessing mobility potential of ARGs, and difficulties in determining the specific AMR determinant genes. Advances in the next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and related computational and bioinformatic tools are facilitating rapid identification and characterization ARGs in genomes and metagenomes from environmental samples. This chapter discusses NGS-based strategies, including amplicon-based sequencing, whole genome sequencing, bacterial population-targeted metagenome sequencing, metagenomic NGS, quantitative metagenomic sequencing, and functional/phenotypic metagenomic sequencing. Current bioinformatic tools for analyzing sequencing data for studying environmental ARGs are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Li
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Tao Yan
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States.
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24
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Behling AH, Wilson BC, Ho D, Virta M, O'Sullivan JM, Vatanen T. Addressing antibiotic resistance: computational answers to a biological problem? Curr Opin Microbiol 2023; 74:102305. [PMID: 37031568 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2023.102305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Revised: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 04/11/2023]
Abstract
The increasing prevalence of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a global healthcare crisis. Understanding the spread of resistance is predicated on the surveillance of antibiotic resistance genes within an environment. Bioinformatics and artificial intelligence (AI) methods applied to metagenomic sequencing data offer the capacity to detect known and infer yet-unknown resistance mechanisms, and predict future outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant infections. Machine learning methods, in particular, could revive the waning antibiotic discovery pipeline by helping to predict the molecular structure and function of antibiotic resistance compounds, and optimising their interactions with target proteins. Consequently, AI has the capacity to play a central role in guiding antibiotic stewardship and future clinical decision-making around antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna H Behling
- Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Brooke C Wilson
- Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Daniel Ho
- Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Marko Virta
- Department of Microbiology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Justin M O'Sullivan
- Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; The Maurice Wilkins Centre, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand; Australian Parkinsons Mission, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, New South Wales, 384 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia; MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, United Kingdom; Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science Technology and Research, Singapore.
| | - Tommi Vatanen
- Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Department of Microbiology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Research Program for Clinical and Molecular Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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25
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Qi Q, Ghaly TM, Penesyan A, Rajabal V, Stacey JA, Tetu SG, Gillings MR. Uncovering Bacterial Hosts of Class 1 Integrons in an Urban Coastal Aquatic Environment with a Single-Cell Fusion-Polymerase Chain Reaction Technology. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:4870-4879. [PMID: 36912846 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a key driver of bacterial evolution via transmission of genetic materials across taxa. Class 1 integrons are genetic elements that correlate strongly with anthropogenic pollution and contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes via HGT. Despite their significance to human health, there is a shortage of robust, culture-free surveillance technologies for identifying uncultivated environmental taxa that harbor class 1 integrons. We developed a modified version of epicPCR (emulsion, paired isolation, and concatenation polymerase chain reaction (PCR)) that links class 1 integrons amplified from single bacterial cells to taxonomic markers from the same cells in emulsified aqueous droplets. Using this single-cell genomic approach and Nanopore sequencing, we successfully assigned class 1 integron gene cassette arrays containing mostly AMR genes to their hosts in coastal water samples that were affected by pollution. Our work presents the first application of epicPCR for targeting variable, multigene loci of interest. We also identified the Rhizobacter genus as novel hosts of class 1 integrons. These findings establish epicPCR as a powerful tool for linking taxa to class 1 integrons in environmental bacterial communities and offer the potential to direct mitigation efforts toward hotspots of class 1 integron-mediated dissemination of AMR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Qi
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, 14 Eastern Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Timothy M Ghaly
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, 14 Eastern Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Anahit Penesyan
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, 14 Eastern Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Vaheesan Rajabal
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, 14 Eastern Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Jeremy Ac Stacey
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, 14 Eastern Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Sasha G Tetu
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, 14 Eastern Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Michael R Gillings
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, 14 Eastern Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
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26
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Zhang F, Wu S, Dai J, Huang J, Zhang J, Zhao M, Rong D, Li Y, Wang J, Chen M, Xue L, Ding Y, Wu Q. The emergence of novel macrolide resistance island in Macrococcus caseolyticus and Staphylococcus aureus of food origin. Int J Food Microbiol 2023; 386:110020. [PMID: 36427466 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2022.110020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Food-derived Staphylococcaceae species with severe antimicrobial resistance, especially Staphylococcus aureus, is a major threat to public health. Macrococcus caseolyticus (M. caseolyticus) is a member of the Staphylococcaceae family which plays a vital role in fermented products and disease causation in animals. In our previous study, several Staphylococcus aureus antibiotic-resistant island msr (SaRImsr) were found in multidrug-resistant S. aureus. In this study, novel SaRImsr, SaRImsr-III emerged from S. aureus. Another novel SaRImsr-like further emerged in M. caseolyticus from food. These isolates' prevalence and genetic environment were investigated and characterized to understand the distribution and transmission of these novel SaRImsr strains. All SaRImsr-positive S. aureus isolates exhibited a multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype, within which a series of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence factor genes (VFs) were identified. In addition, three SaRImsr types, SaRImsr-I (15.1 kb), SaRImsr-II (16-17 kb), and SaRImsr-III (18 kb) carrying mef(D)-msr(F), were identified in these isolates' chromosomes. SaRImsr-(I-III) contains a site-specific integrase gene int and operon mef(D)-msr(F). SaRImsr-III has an additional orf3-orf4-IS30 arrangement downstream of mef(D) and msr(F). Moreover, the SaRImsr-like and macrolide-resistant transposon Tn6776 forming a novel mosaic structure coexisted in one M. caseolyticus isolate. Within this mosaic structure, the macrolide-resistant genes mef(D)-msr(F) were absent in SaRImsr-like, whereas an operon, mef(F)-msr(G), was identified in Tn6776. The SaRImsr-(I-III) and SaRImsr-like structure were inserted into the rpsI gene encoding the 30S ribosomal protein S9 in the chromosome. Excision and cyclisation of SaRImsr-III, SaRImsr-like, operon mef(D)-msr(F), and orf3-orf4-IS30 arrangements were confirmed using two-step PCR. This study is the first to report MDR S. aureus harbouring novel SaRImsr-III and M. caseolyticus containing novel mosaic structures isolated from retail foods. Similar SaRImsr-type resistant islands' occurrence and propagation in Staphylococcaceae species require continuous monitoring and investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 510070, China; School of Bioscience and Bioengineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Shi Wu
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 510070, China
| | - Jingsha Dai
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 510070, China
| | - Jiahui Huang
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 510070, China
| | - Jumei Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 510070, China
| | - Miao Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 510070, China
| | - Dongli Rong
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 510070, China
| | - Yuanyu Li
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 510070, China
| | - Juan Wang
- College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510432, China
| | - Moutong Chen
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 510070, China
| | - Liang Xue
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 510070, China
| | - Yu Ding
- Department of Food Science & Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
| | - Qingping Wu
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 510070, China.
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27
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Alnahhas RN, Dunlop MJ. Advances in linking single-cell bacterial stress response to population-level survival. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2023; 79:102885. [PMID: 36641904 PMCID: PMC9899315 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2022.102885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Stress response mechanisms can allow bacteria to survive a myriad of challenges, including nutrient changes, antibiotic encounters, and antagonistic interactions with other microbes. Expression of these stress response pathways, in addition to other cell features such as growth rate and metabolic state, can be heterogeneous across cells and over time. Collectively, these single-cell-level phenotypes contribute to an overall population-level response to stress. These include diversifying actions, which can be used to enable bet-hedging, and coordinated actions, such as biofilm production, horizontal gene transfer, and cross-feeding. Here, we highlight recent results and emerging technologies focused on both single-cell and population-level responses to stressors, and we draw connections about the combined impact of these effects on survival of bacterial communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Razan N Alnahhas
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, United States; Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, United States
| | - Mary J Dunlop
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, United States; Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, United States.
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28
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Li MM, Huang K, Zitnik M. Graph representation learning in biomedicine and healthcare. Nat Biomed Eng 2022; 6:1353-1369. [PMID: 36316368 PMCID: PMC10699434 DOI: 10.1038/s41551-022-00942-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Networks-or graphs-are universal descriptors of systems of interacting elements. In biomedicine and healthcare, they can represent, for example, molecular interactions, signalling pathways, disease co-morbidities or healthcare systems. In this Perspective, we posit that representation learning can realize principles of network medicine, discuss successes and current limitations of the use of representation learning on graphs in biomedicine and healthcare, and outline algorithmic strategies that leverage the topology of graphs to embed them into compact vectorial spaces. We argue that graph representation learning will keep pushing forward machine learning for biomedicine and healthcare applications, including the identification of genetic variants underlying complex traits, the disentanglement of single-cell behaviours and their effects on health, the assistance of patients in diagnosis and treatment, and the development of safe and effective medicines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle M Li
- Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kexin Huang
- Health Data Science Program, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marinka Zitnik
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Harvard Data Science Initiative, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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29
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Wang B, Pandey T, Long Y, Delgado-Rodriguez SE, Daugherty MD, Ma DK. Co-opted genes of algal origin protect C. elegans against cyanogenic toxins. Curr Biol 2022; 32:4941-4948.e3. [PMID: 36223775 PMCID: PMC9691542 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.09.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Revised: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Amygdalin is a cyanogenic glycoside enriched in the tissues of many edible plants, including seeds of stone fruits such as cherry (Prunus avium), peach (Prunus persica), and apple (Malus domestica). These plants biosynthesize amygdalin in defense against herbivore animals, as amygdalin generates poisonous cyanide upon plant tissue destruction.1,2,3,4 Poisonous to many animals, amygdalin-derived cyanide is detoxified by potent enzymes commonly found in bacteria and plants but not most animals.5 Here we show that the nematode C. elegans can detoxify amygdalin by a genetic pathway comprising cysl-1, egl-9, hif-1, and cysl-2. A screen of a natural product library for hypoxia-independent regulators of HIF-1 identifies amygdalin as a potent activator of cysl-2, a HIF-1 transcriptional target that encodes a cyanide detoxification enzyme in C. elegans. As a cysl-2 paralog similarly essential for amygdalin resistance, cysl-1 encodes a protein homologous to cysteine biosynthetic enzymes in bacteria and plants but functionally co-opted in C. elegans. We identify exclusively HIF-activating egl-9 mutations in a cysl-1 suppressor screen and show that cysl-1 confers amygdalin resistance by regulating HIF-1-dependent cysl-2 transcription to protect against amygdalin toxicity. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that cysl-1 and cysl-2 were likely acquired from green algae through horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and functionally co-opted in protection against amygdalin. Since acquisition, these two genes evolved division of labor in a cellular circuit to detect and detoxify cyanide. Thus, algae-to-nematode HGT and subsequent gene function co-option events may facilitate host survival and adaptation to adverse environmental stresses and biogenic toxins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bingying Wang
- Cardiovascular Research Institute and Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Taruna Pandey
- Cardiovascular Research Institute and Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Yong Long
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | | | - Matthew D Daugherty
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
| | - Dengke K Ma
- Cardiovascular Research Institute and Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
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30
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Downing T, Rahm A. Bacterial plasmid-associated and chromosomal proteins have fundamentally different properties in protein interaction networks. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19203. [PMID: 36357451 PMCID: PMC9649638 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20809-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasmids facilitate horizontal gene transfer, which enables the diversification of pathogens into new anatomical and environmental niches, implying that plasmid-encoded genes can cooperate well with chromosomal genes. We hypothesise that such mobile genes are functionally different to chromosomal ones due to this ability to encode proteins performing non-essential functions like antimicrobial resistance and traverse distinct host cells. The effect of plasmid-driven gene gain on protein-protein interaction network topology is an important question in this area. Moreover, the extent to which these chromosomally- and plasmid-encoded proteins interact with proteins from their own groups compared to the levels with the other group remains unclear. Here, we examined the incidence and protein-protein interactions of all known plasmid-encoded proteins across representative specimens from most bacteria using all available plasmids. We found that plasmid-encoded genes constitute ~ 0.65% of the total number of genes per bacterial sample, and that plasmid genes are preferentially associated with different species but had limited taxonomical power beyond this. Surprisingly, plasmid-encoded proteins had both more protein-protein interactions compared to chromosomal proteins, countering the hypothesis that genes with higher mobility rates should have fewer protein-level interactions. Nonetheless, topological analysis and investigation of the protein-protein interaction networks' connectivity and change in the number of independent components demonstrated that the plasmid-encoded proteins had limited overall impact in > 96% of samples. This paper assembled extensive data on plasmid-encoded proteins, their interactions and associations with diverse bacterial specimens that is available for the community to investigate in more detail.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Downing
- grid.15596.3e0000000102380260School of Biotechnology, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland ,grid.63622.330000 0004 0388 7540Present Address: The Pirbright Institute, Pirbright, UK
| | - Alexander Rahm
- grid.449688.f0000 0004 0647 1487GAATI Lab, University of French Polynesia, Tahiti, French Polynesia
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31
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Downing T, Lee MJ, Archbold C, McDonnell A, Rahm A. Informing plasmid compatibility with bacterial hosts using protein-protein interaction data. Genomics 2022; 114:110509. [PMID: 36273742 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2022.110509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Revised: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
The compatibility of plasmids with new host cells is significant given their role in spreading antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and virulence factor genes. Evaluating this using in vitro screening is laborious and can be informed by computational analyses of plasmid-host compatibility through rates of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) between plasmid and host cell proteins. We identified large excesses of such PPIs in eight important plasmids, including pOXA-48, using most known bacteria (n = 4363). 23 species had high rates of interactions with four blaOXA-48-positive plasmids. We also identified 48 species with high interaction rates with plasmids common in Escherichia coli. We found a strong association between one plasmid and the fimbrial adhesin operon pil, which could enhance host cell adhesion in aqueous environments. An excess rate of PPIs could be a sign of host-plasmid compatibility, which is important for AMR control given that plasmids like pOXA-48 move between species with ease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Downing
- School of Biotechnology, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland; The Pirbright Institute, UK.
| | - Min Jie Lee
- School of Biotechnology, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Conor Archbold
- School of Biotechnology, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Adam McDonnell
- School of Biotechnology, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Alexander Rahm
- GAATI Lab, University of French Polynesia, Tahiti, French Polynesia
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32
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Zhang J, Lu T, Xin Y, Wei Y. Ferric chloride further simplified the horizontal gene transfer network of antibiotic resistance genes in anaerobic digestion. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 844:157054. [PMID: 35780898 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Revised: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The role of ferric chloride (FC) on the reduction of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in anaerobic digestion (AD) system was investigated from the perspective of vertical (VGT) and horizontal gene transfer (HGT) network through the high-throughput qPCR (HT-qPCR). Although FC showed limited impacts on methane production in AD of swine manure, the tetracycline and MLSB resistance genes were specifically reduced at the end, where tetQ of antibiotic target protection and ermF of antibiotic target alteration contributed the most to the reduction. Both VGT and HGT network were divided into three modules, and the complexity of HGT network was largely reduced along with AD, where the HGT connection was reduced from 683 (Module III) to 172 (Module I), and FC addition could further reduce the relative abundance of ARG hosts in Module I. The contribution of VGT and HGT to the changes of ARGs in AD was further deciphered, and although the VGT reflected by the changes of microbial community contributed the most to the dynamics of ARGs (68.0 %), the HGT contribution could further be reduced by the FC addition. This study provided a new perspective on the fate of ARGs response to the FC addition in the AD system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junya Zhang
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Department of Isotope Biogeochemistry, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig 04318, Germany; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Tiedong Lu
- Agricultural Resource and Environment Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi 530007, China
| | - Yuan Xin
- College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530005, Guangxi, China
| | - Yuansong Wei
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
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Shou Y, Meng T, Ai W, Yang S, Li K. Conversational emotion recognition studies based on graph convolutional neural networks and a dependent syntactic analysis. Neurocomputing 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2022.06.072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Eisenreich W, Rudel T, Heesemann J, Goebel W. Link Between Antibiotic Persistence and Antibiotic Resistance in Bacterial Pathogens. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:900848. [PMID: 35928205 PMCID: PMC9343593 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.900848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Both, antibiotic persistence and antibiotic resistance characterize phenotypes of survival in which a bacterial cell becomes insensitive to one (or even) more antibiotic(s). However, the molecular basis for these two antibiotic-tolerant phenotypes is fundamentally different. Whereas antibiotic resistance is genetically determined and hence represents a rather stable phenotype, antibiotic persistence marks a transient physiological state triggered by various stress-inducing conditions that switches back to the original antibiotic sensitive state once the environmental situation improves. The molecular basics of antibiotic resistance are in principle well understood. This is not the case for antibiotic persistence. Under all culture conditions, there is a stochastically formed, subpopulation of persister cells in bacterial populations, the size of which depends on the culture conditions. The proportion of persisters in a bacterial population increases under different stress conditions, including treatment with bactericidal antibiotics (BCAs). Various models have been proposed to explain the formation of persistence in bacteria. We recently hypothesized that all physiological culture conditions leading to persistence converge in the inability of the bacteria to re-initiate a new round of DNA replication caused by an insufficient level of the initiator complex ATP-DnaA and hence by the lack of formation of a functional orisome. Here, we extend this hypothesis by proposing that in this persistence state the bacteria become more susceptible to mutation-based antibiotic resistance provided they are equipped with error-prone DNA repair functions. This is - in our opinion - in particular the case when such bacterial populations are exposed to BCAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wolfgang Eisenreich
- Bavarian NMR Center – Structural Membrane Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany
- *Correspondence: Wolfgang Eisenreich,
| | - Thomas Rudel
- Chair of Microbiology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Jürgen Heesemann
- Max von Pettenkofer-Institute, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, München, Germany
| | - Werner Goebel
- Max von Pettenkofer-Institute, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, München, Germany
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Ewald JM, Schnoor JL, Mattes TE. Combined read- and assembly-based metagenomics to reconstruct a Dehalococcoides mccartyi genome from PCB-contaminated sediments and evaluate functional differences among organohalide-respiring consortia in the presence of different halogenated contaminants. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2022; 98:6602352. [PMID: 35665806 DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiac067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Revised: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbial communities that support respiration of halogenated organic contaminants by Dehalococcoides sp. facilitate full-scale bioremediation of chlorinated ethenes and demonstrate the potential to aid in bioremediation of halogenated aromatics like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). However, it remains unclear if Dehalococcoides-containing microbial community dynamics observed in sediment-free systems quantitatively resemble that of sediment environments. To evaluate that possibility we assembled, annotated, and analyzed a Dehalococcoides sp. metagenome-assembled genome (MAG) from PCB-contaminated sediments. Phylogenetic analysis of reductive dehalogenase gene (rdhA) sequences within the MAG revealed that pcbA1 and pcbA4/5-like rdhA were absent, while several candidate PCB dehalogenase genes and potentially novel rdhA sequences were identified. Using a compositional comparative metagenomics approach, we quantified Dehalococcoides-containing microbial community structure shifts in response to halogenated organics and the presence of sediments. Functional level analysis revealed significantly greater abundances of genes associated with cobamide remodeling and horizontal gene transfer in tetrachloroethene-fed cultures as compared to halogenated aromatic-exposed consortia with or without sediments, despite little evidence of statistically significant differences in microbial community taxonomic structure. Our findings support the use of a generalizable comparative metagenomics workflow to evaluate Dehalococcoides-containing consortia in sediments and sediment-free environments to eludicate functions and microbial interactions that facilitate bioremediation of halogenated organic contaminants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica M Ewald
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 4105 Seamans Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
| | - Jerald L Schnoor
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 4105 Seamans Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
| | - Timothy E Mattes
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 4105 Seamans Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
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Thänert R, Sawhney SS, Schwartz DJ, Dantas G. The resistance within: Antibiotic disruption of the gut microbiome and resistome dynamics in infancy. Cell Host Microbe 2022; 30:675-683. [PMID: 35550670 PMCID: PMC9173668 DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2022.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Intestinal host-microbiota interactions during the first year of life are critical for infant development. Early-life antibiotic exposures disrupt stereotypical gut microbiota maturation and adversely affect childhood health. Furthermore, antibiotics increase the abundance of resistant bacteria and enrich the resistome-the compendium of antibiotic resistance genes-within the gut microbiota. Here, we discuss acute and persistent impacts of antibiotic exposure during infancy on pediatric health, the gut microbiome, and, particularly, the resistome. Reviewing our current understanding of antibiotic resistance acquisition and dissemination within and between microbiomes, we highlight open questions, which are imperative to resolve in the face of rising bacterial resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Thänert
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Sanjam S Sawhney
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Drew J Schwartz
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Gautam Dantas
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
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Crits-Christoph A, Hallowell HA, Koutouvalis K, Suez J. Good microbes, bad genes? The dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in the human microbiome. Gut Microbes 2022; 14:2055944. [PMID: 35332832 PMCID: PMC8959533 DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2022.2055944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
A global rise in antimicrobial resistance among pathogenic bacteria has proved to be a major public health threat, with the rate of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections increasing over time. The gut microbiome has been studied as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) that can be transferred to bacterial pathogens via horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of conjugative plasmids and mobile genetic elements (the gut resistome). Advances in metagenomic sequencing have facilitated the identification of resistome modulators, including live microbial therapeutics such as probiotics and fecal microbiome transplantation that can either expand or reduce the abundances of ARG-carrying bacteria in the gut. While many different gut microbes encode for ARGs, they are not uniformly distributed across, or transmitted by, various members of the microbiome, and not all are of equal clinical relevance. Both experimental and theoretical approaches in microbial ecology have been applied to understand differing frequencies of ARG horizontal transfer between commensal microbes as well as between commensals and pathogens. In this commentary, we assess the evidence for the role of commensal gut microbes in encoding antimicrobial resistance genes, the degree to which they are shared both with other commensals and with pathogens, and the host and environmental factors that can impact resistome dynamics. We further discuss novel sequencing-based approaches for identifying ARGs and predicting future transfer events of clinically relevant ARGs from commensals to pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Crits-Christoph
- W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Haley Anne Hallowell
- W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Kalia Koutouvalis
- W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Jotham Suez
- W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA,CONTACT Jotham Suez Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe St, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 21205
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Ren Y, Chakraborty T, Doijad S, Falgenhauer L, Falgenhauer J, Goesmann A, Schwengers O, Heider D. Multi-label classification for multi-drug resistance prediction of Escherichia coli. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:1264-1270. [PMID: 35317240 PMCID: PMC8918850 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
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