South China Sea Resource Exploitation and Protection Collaborative Innovation Center, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University , Guangzhou 510275, China.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University , Hung Hom, Kowloon Hong Kong.
Environ Sci Technol. 2016 Jul 5;50(13):6670-9. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b00619. Epub 2016 May 4.
Comprehensive profiles of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in a minimally impacted environment are essential to understanding the evolution and dissemination of modern antibiotic resistance. Chemical analyses of the samples collected from Tibet demonstrated that the region under investigation was almost devoid of anthropogenic antibiotics. The soils, animal wastes, and sediments were different from each other in terms of bacterial community structures, and in the typical profiles of ARGs and MGEs. Diverse ARGs that encoded resistance to common antibiotics (e.g., beta-lactams, fluoroquinolones, etc.) were found mainly via an efflux mechanism completely distinct from modern antibiotic resistome. In addition, a very small fraction of ARGs in the Tibetan environment were carried by MGEs, indicating the low potential of these ARGs to be transferred among bacteria. In comparison to the ARG profiles in relatively pristine Tibet, contemporary ARGs and MGEs in human-impacted environments have evolved substantially since the broad use of anthropogenic antibiotics.
全面的抗生素耐药基因（ARGs）和移动遗传元件（MGEs）图谱在最小化影响的环境中对于理解现代抗生素耐药性的进化和传播至关重要。对从西藏采集的样本进行的化学分析表明，所研究的地区几乎没有人为抗生素。土壤、动物粪便和沉积物在细菌群落结构以及典型的 ARGs 和 MGEs 图谱方面存在差异。通过与现代抗生素耐药组完全不同的外排机制，主要发现了编码对常见抗生素（如β-内酰胺类、氟喹诺酮类等）耐药的多种 ARGs。此外，西藏环境中的一小部分 ARGs 由 MGEs 携带，这表明这些 ARGs 在细菌之间转移的潜力较低。与相对原始的西藏的 ARG 图谱相比，自广泛使用人为抗生素以来，人类影响环境中的当代 ARGs 和 MGEs 已经发生了很大的进化。
