Abstract
A reusable water bottle was swabbed as part of the citizen science project “Swab and Send,” and a Klebsiella grimontii isolate was recovered on chromogenic agar and designated SS141. Whole‐genome sequencing of SS141 showed it has the potential to be a human pathogen as it contains the biosynthetic gene cluster for the potent cytotoxin, kleboxymycin, and genes for other virulence factors. The genome also contains the antibiotic‐resistant genes, bla OXY‐6‐4, and a variant of fosA, which is likely to explain the observed resistance to ampicillin, amoxicillin, and fosfomycin. We have also shown that SS141 forms biofilms on both polystyrene and polypropylene surfaces, providing a reasonable explanation for its ability to colonize a reusable water bottle. With the increasing use of reusable water bottles as an alternative to disposables and a strong forecast for growth in this industry over the next decade, this study highlights the need for cleanliness comparable to other reusable culinary items.
Highlights
| INTRODUCTIONAs the global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis continues and exacerbates, the scientific community are engaged in trying to discover novel antimicrobials to treat antimicrobial-resistant infections (Choi, Hwang, & Lee, 2014; Liu, Yang, et al, 2018) and understand the drivers of resistance and potential reservoirs of resistant pathogens (Kotsanas et al, 2013; Li et al, 2018; Lowe et al, 2012)
As the global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis continues and exacerbates, the scientific community are engaged in trying to discover novel antimicrobials to treat antimicrobial-resistant infections (Choi, Hwang, & Lee, 2014; Liu, Yang, et al, 2018) and understand the drivers of resistance and potential reservoirs of resistant pathogens (Kotsanas et al, 2013; Li et al, 2018; Lowe et al, 2012).Enterobacteriaceae are of increasing concern, so much so that some have been deemed “critical” on the WHO global priority list of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens
The swab taken from a reusable water bottle was initially plated out on to the chromogenic CHROMagarTM Orientation agar routinely used for the identification of urinary tract pathogens (Samra, Heifetz, Talmor, Bain, & Bahar, 1998), which identified a significant amount of presumptive Enterobacteriaceae present on the swab
Summary
As the global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis continues and exacerbates, the scientific community are engaged in trying to discover novel antimicrobials to treat antimicrobial-resistant infections (Choi, Hwang, & Lee, 2014; Liu, Yang, et al, 2018) and understand the drivers of resistance and potential reservoirs of resistant pathogens (Kotsanas et al, 2013; Li et al, 2018; Lowe et al, 2012). Swab and Send (LSTM, 2019) is an antibiotic discovery, citizen science project in which members of the public swab an environment of their choice and return the swab to our laboratory. The bacteria from these swabs are isolated and, using an in-house assay, the antibiotic-producing potential of the isolates is determined against indicator strains, including Micrococcus luteus, Escherichia coli, Candida auris, Candida albicans, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. As part of the Swab and Send project, a swab was taken from a reusable water bottle from the offices of the Telegraph Newspaper (Ough, 2018) When this swab was plated out on chromogenic agar, there. Pure culture and sequencing showed it was likely to be an antibiotic-resistant, pathogenic strain of K. grimontii, which is able to form biofilms readily on abiotic surfaces
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