A degenerate PCR-based strategy as a means of identifying homologues of aminoglycoside and β-lactam resistance genes in the gut microbiota
| dc.contributor.author | Fouhy, Fiona | |
| dc.contributor.author | Ross, R. Paul | |
| dc.contributor.author | Fitzgerald, Gerald F. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Stanton, Catherine | |
| dc.contributor.author | Cotter, Paul D. | |
| dc.contributor.funder | Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology | en |
| dc.contributor.funder | Science Foundation Ireland | en |
| dc.contributor.funder | Teagasc | en |
| dc.contributor.funder | Irish Government | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2016-02-04T15:05:54Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2016-02-04T15:05:54Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2014-02-05 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Background: The potential for the human gut microbiota to serve as a reservoir for antibiotic resistance genes has been the subject of recent discussion. However, this has yet to be investigated using a rapid PCR-based approach. In light of this, here we aim to determine if degenerate PCR primers can detect aminoglycoside and β-lactam resistance genes in the gut microbiota of healthy adults, without the need for an initial culture-based screen for resistant isolates. In doing so, we would determine if the gut microbiota of healthy adults, lacking recent antibiotic exposure, is a reservoir for resistance genes. Results: The strategy employed resulted in the identification of numerous aminoglycoside (acetylation, adenylation and phosphorylation) and β-lactam (including bla OXA, bla TEM, bla SHV and bla CTX-M) resistance gene homologues. On the basis of homology, it would appear that these genes originated from different bacterial taxa, with members of the Enterobacteriaceae being a particularly rich source. The results demonstrate that, even in the absence of recent antibiotic exposure, the human gut microbiota is a considerable reservoir for antibiotic resistance genes. Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that the gut can be a significant source of aminoglycoside and β-lactam resistance genes, even in the absence of recent antibiotic exposure. The results also demonstrate that PCR-based approaches can be successfully applied to detect antibiotic resistance genes in the human gut microbiota, without the need to isolate resistant strains. This approach could also be used to rapidly screen other complex environments for target genes. | en |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Irish Research Council (EMBARK scholarship for Fiona Fouhy); Teagasc (Walsh Fellowship for Fiona Fouhy); Irish Government National Development Plan (Science Foundation Ireland Investigator award 11/PI/1137) | en |
| dc.description.status | Peer reviewed | en |
| dc.description.version | Published Version | en |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.articleid | 25 | |
| dc.identifier.citation | FOUHY, F., ROSS, R. P., FITZGERALD, G. F., STANTON, C. & COTTER, P. D. 2014. A degenerate PCR-based strategy as a means of identifying homologues of aminoglycoside and β-lactam resistance genes in the gut microbiota. BMC Microbiology, 14:25, 1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2180-14-25 | en |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.1186/1471-2180-14-25 | |
| dc.identifier.endpage | 10 | en |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1471-2180 | |
| dc.identifier.journaltitle | BMC Microbiology | en |
| dc.identifier.startpage | 1 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10468/2253 | |
| dc.identifier.volume | 14 | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | BioMed Central Ltd. | en |
| dc.rights | © Fouhy et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 | en |
| dc.subject | Antibiotic resistance | en |
| dc.subject | Aminoglycosides | en |
| dc.subject | β-lactam | en |
| dc.subject | Gut microbiota | en |
| dc.subject | PCR | en |
| dc.title | A degenerate PCR-based strategy as a means of identifying homologues of aminoglycoside and β-lactam resistance genes in the gut microbiota | en |
| dc.type | Article (peer-reviewed) | en |
