Antimicrobial resistant organisms in imported foods: exploring an under-appreciated source of resistance in the food supply

进口食品中的抗生素耐药性微生物：探索食品供应中未被充分认识的耐药性来源

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-04428
• 负责人: Rubin, Joseph
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: University of Saskatchewan
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=709182
• 关键词: Antimicrobial; resistant; organisms; imported; foods

Antibiotics are arguably the most important medical advance of the 20th century. Before the introduction of penicillin in the early 1940's, physicians and veterinarians were largely powerless to stop infections. Unfortunately, the extraordinary ability of bacteria to adapt led to the emergence of antibiotic resistance, and untreatable infections are increasingly encountered. The use of antibiotics in agriculture is recognized as one of the contributing drivers of antimicrobial resistance; surveillance programs targeting food animals and retail meats have therefore been implemented. In Canada, the Public Health Agency conducts resistance surveillance focusing on domestically produced beef, pork and poultry targeting potential pathogens such as Salmonella or E. coli. While this strategy is very effective within its mandate, it fails to recognize the presence of resistance in other agricultural species, imported foods or non-pathogens. The ability of bacteria to acquire DNA from other bacteria or the environment is remarkable, resistance conferring genes harboured by any organism (the community resistome) are therefore potentially available to other bacteria. The importance of the resistome is apparent when we consider the mobilization of resistance genes from non-pathogenic, environmental organisms into pathogens as has been seen in the case of the CTX-M -lactamases and qnr type fluoroquinolone resistance genes. There is a profound research and publication bias towards pathogens; consequently vast swaths of the resistome have been largely overlooked. The missed opportunity to detect novel resistance genes, or progenitors to recognized genes and therefore improve our understanding of the biology of resistance is a corollary of this bias. We hypothesize that antimicrobial resistant, non-pathogenic bacteria, including those possessing novel resistance genes will be found in food associated microbial communities. In pilot studies we have identified multi-drug resistant bacteria (both pathogenic and non-pathogenic) not possessing recognized resistance genes which would explain their phenotypes. In the proposed research program we will expand upon this work, screening additional food products to identify antimicrobial resistant organisms to our isolate collection, and identifying the genetic basis of resistance using whole genome sequencing. The innovative approaches proposed to interrogate the resistome, will contribute to a transformation of our understanding of the biology of resistance including the role of non-pathogens and novel resistance genes. Our results will be directly applicable by the Public Health Agency of Canada and other domestic and international regulatory agencies in improving their resistance surveillance programs.

抗生素可以说是世纪最重要的医学进步。在20世纪40年代初青霉素问世之前，医生和兽医在很大程度上无力阻止感染。不幸的是，细菌非凡的适应能力导致了抗生素耐药性的出现，无法治愈的感染越来越多地出现。 农业中抗生素的使用被认为是导致抗生素耐药性的因素之一;因此，针对食用动物和零售肉类的监测计划已经实施。在加拿大，公共卫生署针对沙门氏菌或大肠杆菌等潜在病原体，重点对国内生产的牛肉、猪肉和家禽进行耐药性监测。杆菌虽然这一战略在其任务范围内非常有效，但它未能认识到其他农业物种、进口食品或非病原体中存在抗药性。细菌从其他细菌或环境中获得DNA的能力是显著的，因此任何生物体所携带的赋予抗性的基因（群落抗性基因组）都可能被其他细菌利用。当我们考虑耐药基因从非致病性环境生物体动员到病原体中时，耐药基因组的重要性是显而易见的，如在CTX-M -内酰胺酶和qnr型氟喹诺酮耐药基因的情况下所见。 有一个深刻的研究和出版物对病原体的偏见;因此，大量的耐药基因组在很大程度上被忽视了。这种偏见的必然结果是错过了检测新的抗性基因或识别基因的祖细胞的机会，从而提高了我们对抗性生物学的理解。我们假设，耐药性，非致病性细菌，包括那些拥有新的耐药基因将在食品相关的微生物群落中发现。 在初步研究中，我们已经确定了多重耐药细菌（致病性和非致病性）不具有公认的耐药基因，这将解释他们的表型。在拟议的研究计划中，我们将扩大这项工作，筛选额外的食品，以确定我们的分离物收集的抗菌素耐药生物，并使用全基因组测序确定耐药性的遗传基础。提出的询问耐药基因组的创新方法将有助于我们对耐药生物学的理解，包括非病原体和新型耐药基因的作用。我们的研究结果将直接适用于加拿大公共卫生署和其他国内和国际监管机构，以改善其耐药性监测计划。