Abstract
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become recognized contaminants and pose a high public health risk. The animal gut microbiota is a reservoir of ARGs, but the knowledge of the origin and dissemination of ARGs remains unclear. In this study, we provide a comprehensive profile of ARGs and mobile genetic elements in the gut microbiota from 30 bovines to study the impact of modern antibiotics on resistance. A total of 42 ARG types were detected by annotating the metagenomic sequencing data from Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD). We found that the diversity and abundance of ARGs in individual yaks were significantly lower than those in dairy and beef cattle (p < 0.0001). The results of heat map and single nucleotide polymorphism clustering suggest that ARGs from dairy and beef cattle are more similar, whereas those from yaks cluster separately. The long-term use of antibiotics may contribute to this difference, suggesting that antibiotic consumption is the main cause of ARG prevalence. Furthermore, abundant insertions were also found in this study, signifying a strong potential for horizontal transfer of ARGs among microbes, especially pathogens.
Highlights
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become recognized contaminants and pose a high public health risk
The long-term use of antibiotics may contribute to this difference, suggesting that antibiotic consumption is the main cause of ARG prevalence
Fournier et al [9] reported that the MDR Acinetobacter baumannii strain AYE isolated in France contains 45 resistance genes, most of which were acquired from the genera Pseudomonas, Salmonella or Escherichia, while bacteria isolated from the pre-antibiotic era and wild animals in remote areas with no history of antibiotic exposure rarely carry ARGs [9,10,11]
Summary
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become recognized contaminants and pose a high public health risk. Fournier et al [9] reported that the MDR Acinetobacter baumannii strain AYE isolated in France contains 45 resistance genes, most of which were acquired from the genera Pseudomonas, Salmonella or Escherichia, while bacteria isolated from the pre-antibiotic era and wild animals in remote areas with no history of antibiotic exposure rarely carry ARGs [9,10,11]. This situation indicates that there is a high risk that we will regress to an era where antibiotics are no longer effective and may contribute to the increased emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens
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