Institute of Ecological Science, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, PR China.
School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China.
Nat Commun. 2024 Aug 30;15(1):7536. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-51936-z.
Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs; also called giant viruses), constituting the phylum Nucleocytoviricota, can infect a wide range of eukaryotes and exchange genetic material with not only their hosts but also prokaryotes and phages. A few NCLDVs were reported to encode genes conferring resistance to beta‑lactam, trimethoprim, or pyrimethamine, suggesting that they are potential vehicles for the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the biome. However, the incidence of ARGs across the phylum Nucleocytoviricota, their evolutionary characteristics, their dissemination potential, and their association with virulence factors remain unexplored. Here, we systematically investigated ARGs of 1416 NCLDV genomes including those of almost all currently available cultured isolates and high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes from diverse habitats across the globe. We reveal that 39.5% of them carry ARGs, which is approximately 37 times higher than that for phage genomes. A total of 12 ARG types are encoded by NCLDVs. Phylogenies of the three most abundant NCLDV-encoded ARGs hint that NCLDVs acquire ARGs from not only eukaryotes but also prokaryotes and phages. Two NCLDV-encoded trimethoprim resistance genes are demonstrated to confer trimethoprim resistance in Escherichia coli. The presence of ARGs in NCLDV genomes is significantly correlated with mobile genetic elements and virulence factors.
核质大 DNA 病毒（NCLDVs；也称为巨型病毒），构成核质病毒门，可感染广泛的真核生物，并与不仅宿主而且还与原核生物和噬菌体交换遗传物质。据报道，少数 NCLDV 编码赋予对β-内酰胺、甲氧苄啶或乙胺嘧啶抗性的基因，这表明它们是生物体内抗生素抗性基因（ARGs）传播的潜在载体。然而，核质病毒门中 ARGs 的发生率、它们的进化特征、它们的传播潜力以及它们与毒力因子的关联仍未得到探索。在这里，我们系统地研究了包括几乎所有现有培养分离物和来自全球各种生境的高质量宏基因组组装基因组在内的 1416 个 NCLDV 基因组中的 ARGs。我们揭示它们中有 39.5%携带 ARGs，这大约是噬菌体基因组的 37 倍。NCLDV 编码了总共 12 种 ARG 类型。三种最丰富的 NCLDV 编码 ARG 的系统发育暗示 NCLDV 不仅从真核生物而且还从原核生物和噬菌体中获得 ARGs。两种 NCLDV 编码的甲氧苄啶抗性基因被证明能够在大肠杆菌中赋予甲氧苄啶抗性。NCLDV 基因组中 ARGs 的存在与移动遗传元件和毒力因子显著相关。
