A reservoir of ‘historical’ antibiotic resistance genes in remote pristine Antarctic soils ...
Abstract Background Soil bacteria naturally produce antibiotics as a competitive mechanism, with a concomitant evolution, and exchange by horizontal gene transfer, of a range of antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Surveys of bacterial resistance elements in edaphic systems have originated primarily fr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
figshare
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4013830.v1 https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/A_reservoir_of_historical_antibiotic_resistance_genes_in_remote_pristine_Antarctic_soils/4013830/1 |
| Summary: | Abstract Background Soil bacteria naturally produce antibiotics as a competitive mechanism, with a concomitant evolution, and exchange by horizontal gene transfer, of a range of antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Surveys of bacterial resistance elements in edaphic systems have originated primarily from human-impacted environments, with relatively little information from remote and pristine environments, where the resistome may comprise the ancestral gene diversity. Methods We used shotgun metagenomics to assess antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) distribution in 17 pristine and remote Antarctic surface soils within the undisturbed Mackay Glacier region. We also interrogated the phylogenetic placement of ARGs compared to environmental ARG sequences and tested for the presence of horizontal gene transfer elements flanking ARGs. Results In total, 177 naturally occurring ARGs were identified, most of which encoded single or multi-drug efflux pumps. Resistance mechanisms for the inactivation of aminoglycosides, ... |
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