Food commensal microbes as a potentially important avenue in transmitting antibiotic resistance genes

Abstract The rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant (ART) pathogens is a major threat to public health. While the surfacing of ART food-borne pathogens is alarming, the magnitude of the antibiotic resistance (AR) gene pool in food-borne commensal microbes is yet to be revealed. Incidence of ART com...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:FEMS microbiology letters 2006-01, Vol.254 (2), p.226-231
Main Authors: Wang, Hua H., Manuzon, Michele, Lehman, Mark, Wan, Kai, Luo, Hongliang, Wittum, Thomas E., Yousef, Ahmed, Bakaletz, Lauren O.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology
Antibiotic resistance
Antibiotics
Bacteria
Bacteria - genetics
Bacteria - growth & development
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacteriology
Biological and medical sciences
Cheese
Cheese - microbiology
Commensals
Dairy products
Drug resistance
Drug Resistance, Bacterial - genetics
Food
Food chains
Food contamination
Food Microbiology
Food production
Food selection
foods
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gene pool
Gene transfer
Gene Transfer, Horizontal
Genes
Genetic transformation
Genetics
Gram-Positive Cocci - drug effects
Gram-Positive Cocci - genetics
Health risks
horizontal gene transfer
Humans
Lactococcus lactis
Microbiology
Microbiota
Microorganisms
Pathogens
Plasmids
Public health
Streptococcus infections
Streptococcus thermophilus
Surfacing
Transformation, Bacterial
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Summary:Abstract The rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant (ART) pathogens is a major threat to public health. While the surfacing of ART food-borne pathogens is alarming, the magnitude of the antibiotic resistance (AR) gene pool in food-borne commensal microbes is yet to be revealed. Incidence of ART commensals in selected retail food products was examined in this study. The presence of 102–107 CFU of ART bacteria per gram of foods in many samples, particularly in ready-to-eat, ‘healthy’ food items, indicates that the ART bacteria are abundant in the food chain. AR-encoding genes were detected in ART isolates, and Streptococcus thermophilus was found to be a major host for AR genes in cheese microbiota. Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc sp. isolates were also found carrying AR genes. The data indicate that food could be an important avenue for ART bacterial evolution and dissemination. AR-encoding plasmids from several food-borne commensals were transmitted to Streptococcus mutans via natural gene transformation under laboratory conditions, suggesting the possible transfer of AR genes from food commensals to human residential bacteria via horizontal gene transfer.
ISSN:0378-1097
1574-6968
DOI:10.1111/j.1574-6968.2005.00030.x