Diversity and genetic basis for carbapenem resistance in a coastal marine environment.

Diversity and genetic basis for carbapenem resistance in a coastal marine environment. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2020 Mar 20;: Authors: Dewi DAPR, Götz B, Thomas T Abstract Resistance to the "last resort" antibiotics, such as carbapenems, has led to very few antibiotics being left to treat infections by multi-drug resistant bacteria. Spread of carbapenem resistance (CR) has been well characterised for the clinical environment. However, there is lack of information about its environmental distribution. Our study first reveals that CR is present in a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria in the coastal seawater environment, including four phyla, eight classes, and 30 genera. These bacteria were likely introduced into seawater via stormwater flows. Some CR isolates found, such as Acinetobacter junii, A. johnsonii, Brevundimonas vesicularis, Enterococcus durans, Pseudomonas monteilii, P. fulva, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, are relevant to human health. We also describe a novel Metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) for marine Rheinheimera isolates with CR, which has likely been horizontally transferred to Citrobacter freundii or Enterobacter cloacae. In contrast, another MBL of the New Delhi Metallo ß-lactamase (NDM)-type was likely acquired by environmental Variovorax isolates with CR from Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, or Acinetobacter baumannii utilizing a plasmid. Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that the aquatic en...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Appl Environ Microbiol Source Type: research