Abstract
Bacteriophages can package part of their host’s genetic material, including antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), contributing to a rapid dissemination of resistances among bacteria. Phage particles containing ARGs were evaluated in meat, pork, beef and chicken minced meat, and ham and mortadella, purchased in local retailer. Ten ARGs (blaTEM, blaCTX-M-1, blaCTX-M-9, blaOXA-48, blaVIM, qnrA, qnrS, mecA, armA and sul1) were analyzed by qPCR in the phage DNA fraction. The genes were quantified, before and after propagation experiments in Escherichia coli, to evaluate the ability of ARG-carrying phage particles to infect and propagate in a bacterial host. According to microbiological parameters, all samples were acceptable for consumption. ARGs were detected in most of the samples after particle propagation indicating that at least part of the isolated phage particles were infectious, being sul1the most abundant ARG in all the matrices followed by β-lactamase genes. ARGs were also found in the phage DNA fraction of thirty-seven archive chicken cecal samples, confirming chicken fecal microbiota as an important ARG reservoir and the plausible origin of the particles found in meat. Phages are vehicles for gene transmission in meat that should not be underestimated as a risk factor in the global crisis of antibiotic resistance.
Highlights
Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health and food security
Most of the antibiotics used in medicine, livestock and aquaculture are excreted practically unaltered to the environment, generating a pressure that selects for naturally occurring resistant strains and their accompanying ARG8
The most recent mechanism described, lateral transduction mediated by temperate phages that do not excise from the bacterial chromosome after induction and generate capsids able to package only bacterial DNA located downstream
Summary
Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health and food security. A decreasing production of new antimicrobial compounds and a reduced effectiveness of the existing ones caused by the emergence of resistant bacteria is resulting in higher mortality rates[1]. Three mechanisms of transduction have been described so far; specialized transduction[13], mediated by temperate phages that lysogenize the bacterial cell and mobilize the genes adjacent to their insertion site. The most recent mechanism described, lateral transduction mediated by temperate phages that do not excise from the bacterial chromosome after induction and generate capsids able to package only bacterial DNA located downstream www.nature.com/scientificreports/. There is a high percentage (from 4 to 68%) of lysogenic bacteria containing inducible prophages in different ecosystems[17] Thanks to their structural characteristics, bacteriophages are highly persistent in the environment, the capsid acting as a shield that protects the packaged DNA18,19. Once free ARG-containing phage particles enter the environment, they can end up in food, as shown in a recent study of vegetables classed suitable for human consumption[28], and be ingested
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