Supermarket produce harbors antibiotic-resistance genes
- Date:
- November 6, 2018
- Source:
- American Society for Microbiology
- Summary:
- Researchers have found that produce is a reservoir for transferable antibiotic resistance genes that often escape traditional molecular detection methods. These antibiotic resistance genes might escape cultivation-independent detection, but could still be transferred to human pathogens or commensals. The results highlight the importance of the rare microbiome of produce as a source of antibiotic resistance genes.
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Researchers from the Julius Kühn Institut, Germany have found that produce is a reservoir for transferable antibiotic resistance genes that often escape traditional molecular detection methods. These antibiotic resistance genes might escape cultivation-independent detection, but could still be transferred to human pathogens or commensals. The results, which highlight the importance of the rare microbiome of produce as a source of antibiotic resistance genes, are published November 6 in the open-access journal, mBio.
Produce is increasingly recognized as a source of pathogenic bacteria, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and antibiotic resistance genes. This study aimed to explore methods to characterize the transferable resistome -- the collection of antibiotic resistance genes present in bacteria -- associated with produce. The researchers analyzed mixed salad, arugula, and cilantro purchased from supermarkets in Germany by cultivation and DNA-based methods.
These results confirmed that cultivation-independent DNA-based methods are not always sufficiently sensitive to detect the transferable resistome in the rare microbiome, such as that of produce.
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Materials provided by American Society for Microbiology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Khald Blau, Antje Bettermann, Sven Jechalke, Eva Fornefeld, Yann Vanrobaeys, Thibault Stalder, Eva M. Top, Kornelia Smalla. The Transferable Resistome of Produce. mBio, 2018; 9 (6) DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01300-18
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