Ottenbrite Marie, Yilmaz Gokhan, Chan Maria, Devenish John, Kang Mingsong, Dan Hanhong, Lau Calvin Ho-Fung, Capitani Sabrina, Carrillo Catherine, Bessonov Kyrylo, Nash John H E, Topp Edward, Guan Jiewen
Ottawa Laboratory-Fallowfield, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Ottawa Laboratory-Carling, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Can J Microbiol. 2025 Jan 1;71:1-11. doi: 10.1139/cjm-2024-0168.
Ingestion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria following antibiotic treatments may lead to the transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) within a disturbed gut microbiota. However, it remains unclear whether and how microbes present in food matrices influence ARG transfer. Thus, a previously established mouse model, which demonstrated the conjugative transfer of a multi-drug resistance plasmid (pIncA/C) from Heidelberg (donor) to Typhimurium (recipient), was used to assess the effects of food-borne microbes derived from fresh carrots on pIncA/C transfer. Mice were pre-treated with ampicillin, streptomycin, sulfamethazine, or left untreated as a control to facilitate bacterial colonization. Contrary to previous findings where high-density colonization of the donor and recipient bacteria occurred in the absence of food-borne microbes, the presence of these microbes resulted in a low abundance of . Typhimurium and no detection of . Typhimurium transconjugants in the fecal samples from any of the mice. However, in mice pre-treated with streptomycin, a significant reduction in microbial species richness allowed for the significant enrichment of and pIncA/C transfer to bacteria from the genera , and . These findings suggest that food-borne microbes may enhance ARG dissemination by influencing the population dynamics of bacterial hosts within a pre-disturbed gut microbiome.
