Abstract
BackgroundAntibiotic resistance is not confined to pathogens, but is also widespread in various natural environments. In nature the microbes producing antibiotic compounds have been around for millions of years. Heavy use of antibiotics in medicine and veterinary practice may lead to the accumulation of resistance genes in microbial populations, followed by a rise in multiresistant bacteria.ResultsTo test the extent of resistance among aquatic bacteria, we have collected 760 isolates resistant to at least one antibiotic. The phylogeny of the isolates covers a wide range of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes. In order to determine the extent of multiresistance, the isolates were tested on six antibiotics. As the growth rate of the different bacteria was highly variable, the classical medical resistance tests could not be used, and an alternative method considering the full growth curve was developed. In general, the overall resistances to different antibiotics could be explained by random, independent distribution. An exception to this was the resistances against tetracycline and chloramphenicol, which tended to occur in pairs.ConclusionsWe conclude that there is no massive spread of multiresistance determinants in the studied environment, although some specific cases can be found, awaiting for molecular characterization of the resistance mechanisms.
Highlights
Antibiotic resistance is not confined to pathogens, but is widespread in various natural environments
The vast majority of antibiotic classes currently used originate from natural compounds, and bacteria have been evolving in the antibiotic-containing natural environment for millions of years [2]
Multiresistance can be facilitated by single proteins like efflux pumps which are able to use several antibiotics as a substrate [11]
Summary
Antibiotic resistance is not confined to pathogens, but is widespread in various natural environments. Heavy use of antibiotics in medicine and veterinary practice may lead to the accumulation of resistance genes in microbial populations, followed by a rise in multiresistant bacteria. The common ways of spreading AR include accumulation of Pathogenic organisms can be multiresistant i.e. they can be insensitive to several antibiotics. This can decrease the chance for successful infection treatment, making it harder and more time consuming. Multiresistance can be facilitated by single proteins like efflux pumps which are able to use several antibiotics as a substrate [11] Another way of becoming multiresistant is to acquire, by horizontal gene transfer, a plasmid and/or transposon carrying resistance genes for several antibiotics in one cassette [11]. Such plasmids are not uncommon, and over time they can incorporate additional resistance genes [12,13]
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