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Tu Z, Pang L, Lai S, Zhu Y, Wu Y, Zhou Q, Qi H, Zhang Y, Dong Y, Gan Y, Wu J, Yu J, Tao W, Ma B, Wang H, Zhang A. The hidden threat: Comprehensive assessment of antibiotic and disinfectant resistance in commercial pig slaughterhouses. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 946:174222. [PMID: 38945230 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174222] [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: 04/14/2024] [Revised: 06/08/2024] [Accepted: 06/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
The presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), disinfectant resistance genes (DRGs), and pathogens in animal food processing environments (FAPE) poses a significant risk to human health. However, knowledge of the contamination and risk profiles of a typical commercial pig slaughterhouse with periodic disinfectant applications is limited. By creating the overall metagenomics-based behavior and risk profiles of ARGs, DRGs, and microbiomes in a nine-section pig slaughterhouse, an important FAPE in China. A total of 454 ARGs and 84 DRGs were detected in the slaughterhouse with resistance genes for aminoglycosides and quaternary ammonium compounds, respectively. The entire slaughtering chain is a hotspot for pathogens, including 83 human pathogenic bacteria (HPB), with 47 core HPB. In addition, 68 high-risk ARGs were significantly correlated with 55 HPB, 30 of which were recognized as potential bacteria co-resistant to antibiotics and disinfectants, confirm a three-fold risk of ARGs, DRGs, and pathogens prevailing throughout the chain. Pre-slaughter pig house (PSPH) was the major risk source for ARGs, DRGs, and HPB. Moreover, 75 Escherichia coli and 47 Proteus mirabilis isolates showed sensitivity to potassium monopersulfate and sodium hypochlorite, suggesting that slaughterhouses should use such related disinfectants. By using whole genome multi-locus sequence typing and single nucleotide polymorphism analyses, genetically closely related bacteria were identified across distinct slaughter sections, suggesting bacterial transmission across the slaughter chain. Overall, this study underscores the critical role of the PSPH section as a major source of HPB, ARGs, and DRGs contamination in commercial pig slaughterhouses. Moreover, it highlights the importance of addressing clonal transmission and cross-contamination of antibiotic- and disinfectant-resistant bacteria within and between slaughter sections. These issues are primarily attributed to the microbial load carried by animals before slaughter, carcass handling, and content exposure during visceral treatment. Our findings provide valuable insights for One Health-oriented slaughterhouse management practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zunfang Tu
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China; Microbiological Testing and Research Department, Sichuan Institute for Drug Control (Sichuan Testing Center of Medical Devices), Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Lina Pang
- College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Shanming Lai
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Yixiao Zhu
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Yingting Wu
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Quan Zhou
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Haoxuan Qi
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Yanhang Zhang
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Yongyi Dong
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Yumeng Gan
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Jie Wu
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Jing Yu
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Weilai Tao
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Bingcun Ma
- Microbiological Testing and Research Department, Sichuan Institute for Drug Control (Sichuan Testing Center of Medical Devices), Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Hongning Wang
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Anyun Zhang
- Animal Disease Prevention and Food Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China.
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Duc HM, Hoa TTK, Ha CTT, Van Hung L, Van Thang N, Minh Son H, Flory GA. Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance Profile of Clostridium perfringens Isolated from Pork and Chicken Meat in Vietnam. Pathogens 2024; 13:400. [PMID: 38787252 PMCID: PMC11123724 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens13050400] [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: 04/27/2024] [Revised: 05/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens is one of the most important zoonotic pathogens as it can cause food poisoning in humans and necrotic enteritis in both animals and humans. Meat, especially pork and chicken meat, is considered the main vehicle for the transmission of C. perfringens from animals to humans. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, toxinotype, and antimicrobial resistance profile of C. perfringens isolated from pork and chicken meat sold in Vietnam. The isolation results showed that 15/50 (30%) of pork samples and 8/50 (16%) of chicken meat samples were contaminated with C. perfringens. The isolates exhibited their highest resistance rate to tetracycline (21/23; 91.30%) and clindamycin (10/23; 43.48%). On the contrary, their lowest resistance rates were observed in response to imipenem (2/23; 8.70%) and cefoxitin (1/23; 4.35%). In particular, 34.78% (8/23) of C. perfringens isolates were identified to be multidrug-resistant strains. The results of toxin genotyping indicated that all isolates were positive for the cpa gene and belonged to type A.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hoang Minh Duc
- Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Vietnam National University of Agriculture Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi 12400, Vietnam
| | - Tran Thi Khanh Hoa
- Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Vietnam National University of Agriculture Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi 12400, Vietnam
| | - Cam Thi Thu Ha
- Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Vietnam National University of Agriculture Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi 12400, Vietnam
| | - Le Van Hung
- Veterinary Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Vietnam National University of Agriculture Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi 12400, Vietnam
| | - Nguyen Van Thang
- Veterinary Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Vietnam National University of Agriculture Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi 12400, Vietnam
| | - Hoang Minh Son
- Department of Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Vietnam National University of Agriculture Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi 12400, Vietnam
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Kawamura T, Prah I, Mahazu S, Ablordey A, Saito R. Types A and F Clostridium perfringens in healthcare wastewater from Ghana. Appl Environ Microbiol 2023; 89:e0161923. [PMID: 38051072 PMCID: PMC10734495 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01619-23] [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: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Clostridium perfringens causes gas gangrene and food poisoning in humans, and monitoring this bacterium is important for public health. Although whole-genome sequencing is useful to comprehensively understand the virulence, resistome, and global genetic relatedness of bacteria, limited genomic data from environmental sources and developing countries hamper our understanding of the richness of the intrinsic genomic diversity of this pathogen. Here, we successfully accumulated the genetic data on C. perfringens strains isolated from hospital effluent and provided the first evidence that predicted pathogenic C. perfringens may be disseminated in the clinical environment in Ghana. Our findings suggest the importance of risk assessment in the environment as well as the clinical setting to mitigate the potential outbreak of C. perfringens food poisoning in Ghana.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taira Kawamura
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine and Dental Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Isaac Prah
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine and Dental Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Samiratu Mahazu
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine and Dental Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Anthony Ablordey
- Department of Bacteriology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | - Ryoichi Saito
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine and Dental Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
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Priya GB, Srinivas K, Shilla H, Milton AAP. High Prevalence of Multidrug-Resistant, Biofilm-Forming Virulent Clostridium perfringens in Broiler Chicken Retail Points in Northeast India. Foods 2023; 12:4185. [PMID: 38002242 PMCID: PMC10670561 DOI: 10.3390/foods12224185] [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: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
In light of the significant public health and food safety implications associated with Clostridium perfringens, this study aimed to isolate and characterize C. perfringens in samples obtained from broiler chicken retail points in Meghalaya, northeastern India. A total of 280 samples comprising meat, intestinal contents, water, and hand swabs were processed to detect contamination by C. perfringens. The isolates were subjected to toxinotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and biofilm-forming ability test. The overall occurrence of C. perfringens was 22.5% (17.74-27.85, 95% CI) with the highest recovery from intestine samples (31%; 22.13-41.03, 95% CI), followed by meat (23%, 15.17-32.49, 95% CI) and water samples (18%, 8.58-31.44, 95% CI). Type A was the predominant toxinotype (71.43%, 58.65-82.11, 95% CI), followed by Type A with beta2 toxin (17.46%, 9.05-29.10, 95% CI), Type C (7.94%, 2.63-17.56, 95% CI), and Type C with beta2 toxin (3.17%, 0.39-11.0, 95% CI). Nearly all (95.24%) isolates were multidrug resistant and 68.25% were biofilm formers. The predominance of multidrug-resistant and virulent Type A and Type C C. perfringens in retail broiler meat and intestines in the tribal-dominated northeastern region of India is of great concern from food safety and public health perspectives.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kandhan Srinivas
- Division of Animal and Fisheries Sciences, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam 793103, Meghalaya, India; (K.S.); (H.S.)
| | - Heiborkie Shilla
- Division of Animal and Fisheries Sciences, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam 793103, Meghalaya, India; (K.S.); (H.S.)
| | - Arockiasamy Arun Prince Milton
- Division of Animal and Fisheries Sciences, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam 793103, Meghalaya, India; (K.S.); (H.S.)
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Xuan G, Zhao G, Wang Y, Su Q, Wang J, Lin H. Complete genome analysis and biological characterization of a novel phage vB_CP_qdyz_P5 with lytic activity against Clostridium perfringens. Microb Pathog 2023; 183:106279. [PMID: 37549798 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2023.106279] [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: 07/03/2023] [Revised: 07/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023]
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens, a common foodborne pathogen, exhibit high-stress resistance. The prevailing reliance on antibiotics in the farming industry for its prevention and control has led to increasing concerns over antibiotic residue and bacterial resistance. Bacteriophages that possess specific lytic activity against C. perfringens are of significant interest. Here, a novel C. perfringens phage, named vB_CP_qdyz_P5, was isolated and characterized. The phage displayed high stability at temperatures below 70 °C and pH levels ranging from 4 to 12. Genome analysis revealed that vB_CP_qdyz_P5 has a double-stand DNA of 18,888 bp with a G + C composition of 28.8%. Among the 27 identified opening reading frames (ORFs), eight were found to be functional genes. BLASTn analysis showed that vB_CP_qdyz_P5 is closely related to phage DCp1, with a genome homology coverage of 83%. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that vB_CP_qdyz_P5 may be a novel phage of the family Guelinviridae, Susfortunavirus. This study provides important preliminary information for further research on the potential use of vB_CP_qdyz_P5 in protecting against C. perfringens and maintaining intestinal health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guanhua Xuan
- Food Safety Laboratory, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China
| | - Gang Zhao
- Food Safety Laboratory, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China
| | - Yue Wang
- Food Safety Laboratory, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China
| | - Qiao Su
- Food Safety Laboratory, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China
| | - Jingxue Wang
- Food Safety Laboratory, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China.
| | - Hong Lin
- Food Safety Laboratory, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China
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Synergistic Antibiotic Activity of Ricini Semen Extract with Oxacillin against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Antibiotics (Basel) 2023; 12:antibiotics12020340. [PMID: 36830251 PMCID: PMC9952580 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12020340] [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: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Resistant bacteria are emerging as a critical problem in the treatment of bacterial infections by neutralizing antibiotic activity. The development of new traditional mechanisms of antibiotics is not the optimal solution. A more reasonable approach may be to use relatively safe, plant-based compounds in combination with conventional antibiotics in an effort to increase their efficacy or restore their activity against resistant bacteria. We present our study of mixing Ricini Semen extract, or its constituent fatty acids, with oxacillin and testing the effects of each on the growth of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Changes in the cell membrane fluidity of methicillin-resistant S. aureus were found to be a major component of the mechanism of synergistic antibiotic activity of Ricini Semen extract and its constituent fatty acids. In our model, changes in cellular membrane fluidity disrupted the normal function of bacterial signaling membrane proteins BlaR1 and MecR1, which are known to detect oxacillin, and resulted in the incomplete expression of penicillin-binding proteins 2a and β-lactamase. Utilizing the mechanism presented in this study presents the possibility of developing a method for treating antibiotic-resistant bacteria using traditional antibiotics with plant-based compounds.
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Camargo A, Guerrero-Araya E, Castañeda S, Vega L, Cardenas-Alvarez MX, Rodríguez C, Paredes-Sabja D, Ramírez JD, Muñoz M. Intra-species diversity of Clostridium perfringens: A diverse genetic repertoire reveals its pathogenic potential. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:952081. [PMID: 35935202 PMCID: PMC9354469 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.952081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens is the causative agent of many enterotoxic diseases in humans and animals, and it is present in diverse environments (soil, food, sewage, and water). Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) and Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) have provided a general approach about genetic diversity of C. perfringens; however, those studies are limited to specific locations and often include a reduced number of genomes. In this study, 372 C. perfringens genomes from multiple locations and sources were used to assess the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relatedness of this pathogen. In silico MLST was used for typing the isolates, and the resulting sequence types (ST) were assigned to clonal complexes (CC) based on allelic profiles that differ from its founder by up to double-locus variants. A pangenome analysis was conducted, and a core genome-based phylogenetic tree was created to define phylogenetic groups. Additionally, key virulence factors, toxinotypes, and antibiotic resistance genes were identified using ABRicate against Virulence Factor Database (VFDB), TOXiper, and Resfinder, respectively. The majority of the C. perfringens genomes found in publicly available databases were derived from food (n = 85) and bird (n = 85) isolates. A total of 195 STs, some of them shared between sources such as food and human, horses and dogs, and environment and birds, were grouped in 25 CC and distributed along five phylogenetic groups. Fifty-three percent of the genomes were allocated to toxinotype A, followed by F (32%) and G (7%). The most frequently found virulence factors based on > 70% coverage and 99.95% identity were plc (100%), nanH (99%), ccp (99%), and colA (98%), which encode an alpha-toxin, a sialidase, an alpha-clostripain, and a collagenase, respectively, while tetA (39.5%) and tetB (36.2%), which mediate tetracycline resistance determinants, were the most common antibiotic resistance genes detected. The analyses conducted here showed a better view of the presence of this pathogen across several host species. They also confirm that the genetic diversity of C. perfringens is based on a large number of virulence factors that vary among phylogroups, and antibiotic resistance markers, especially to tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, and macrolides. Those characteristics highlight the importance of C. perfringens as a one of the most common causes of foodborne illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anny Camargo
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad de Boyacá, Tunja, Colombia
| | - Enzo Guerrero-Araya
- ANID, Millennium Science Initiative Program, Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile
| | - Sergio Castañeda
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Laura Vega
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - María X. Cardenas-Alvarez
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - César Rodríguez
- Laboratorio de Investigación en Bacteriología Anaerobia, Facultad de Microbiología, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
| | - Daniel Paredes-Sabja
- ANID, Millennium Science Initiative Program, Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Juan David Ramírez
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
- Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Marina Muñoz
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
- ANID, Millennium Science Initiative Program, Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile
- *Correspondence: Marina Muñoz,
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Cruz KCP, Enekegho LO, Stuart DT. Bioengineered Probiotics: Synthetic Biology Can Provide Live Cell Therapeutics for the Treatment of Foodborne Diseases. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10:890479. [PMID: 35656199 PMCID: PMC9152101 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.890479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The rising prevalence of antibiotic resistant microbial pathogens presents an ominous health and economic challenge to modern society. The discovery and large-scale development of antibiotic drugs in previous decades was transformational, providing cheap, effective treatment for what would previously have been a lethal infection. As microbial strains resistant to many or even all antibiotic drug treatments have evolved, there is an urgent need for new drugs or antimicrobial treatments to control these pathogens. The ability to sequence and mine the genomes of an increasing number of microbial strains from previously unexplored environments has the potential to identify new natural product antibiotic biosynthesis pathways. This coupled with the power of synthetic biology to generate new production chassis, biosensors and “weaponized” live cell therapeutics may provide new means to combat the rapidly evolving threat of drug resistant microbial pathogens. This review focuses on the application of synthetic biology to construct probiotic strains that have been endowed with functionalities allowing them to identify, compete with and in some cases kill microbial pathogens as well as stimulate host immunity. Weaponized probiotics may have the greatest potential for use against pathogens that infect the gastrointestinal tract: Vibrio cholerae, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens and Clostridioides difficile. The potential benefits of engineered probiotics are highlighted along with the challenges that must still be met before these intriguing and exciting new therapeutic tools can be widely deployed.
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