Hansen Thomas Arn, Joshi Tejal, Larsen Anders Rhod, Andersen Paal Skytt, Harms Klaus, Mollerup Sarah, Willerslev Eske, Fuursted Kurt, Nielsen Lars Peter, Hansen Anders Johannes
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DK-1350, Denmark;
Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Department of Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet, 2800, Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark;
Evol Med Public Health. 2016 Aug 3;2016(1):219-26. doi: 10.1093/emph/eow021. Print 2016.
Widespread use of antibiotics has resulted in selection pressure on genes that make bacteria non-responsive to antibiotics. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria are currently a major threat to global health. There are various possibilities for the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. It has been argued that animal vectors such as Rattus norvegicus (R. norvegicus) living in hospital sewage systems are ideal for carrying pathogens responsible for fatal diseases in humans.
Using a metagenomic sequencing approach, we investigated faecal samples of R. norvegicus from three major cities for the presence of antibiotic resistance genes.
We show that despite the shared resistome within samples from the same geographic locations, samples from hospital area carry significantly abundant vancomycin resistance genes.
The observed pattern is consistent with a selection for vancomycin genes in the R. norvegicus microbiome, potentially driven by the outflow of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria into the wastewater systems. Carriage of vancomycin resistance may suggest that R. norvegicus is acting as a reservoir for possible transmission to the human population.
抗生素的广泛使用已对使细菌产生抗生素耐药性的基因形成了选择压力。这些耐药细菌目前是全球健康的主要威胁。抗生素耐药基因存在多种转移途径。有人认为，生活在医院污水系统中的诸如褐家鼠等动物载体是携带导致人类致命疾病病原体的理想宿主。
我们采用宏基因组测序方法，调查了来自三个主要城市的褐家鼠粪便样本中抗生素耐药基因的存在情况。
我们发现，尽管来自相同地理位置的样本具有共同的耐药基因组，但医院区域的样本中携带的万古霉素耐药基因显著丰富。
观察到的模式与褐家鼠微生物组中万古霉素基因的选择一致，这可能是由抗生素和耐药细菌流入废水系统所驱动的。携带万古霉素耐药性可能表明褐家鼠正充当着可能传播给人类的储存宿主。
