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Antibiotics resistance of bacteria with food products
Project
Project code: MRI-MBT-08-2084 Bakterien
Contract period: 01.01.2015
- 31.12.2022
Purpose of research: Experimental development
Research at the MRI concerning antibiotic-resistant bacteria focuses on prevalence and entry points of such bacteria in the food supply, with special emphasis on ESBL-producing enterobacteria, tetracycline-resistant enterobacteria and methicillin-resistant, coagulase.negative staphylococci (MRCoNS). The MRI Departments of Microbiology and Biotechnology (Kiel), Safety and Quality of Milk and Fish (Kiel), Safety and Quality of Cereals (Detmold), Safety and Quality of Fruit and Vegetables (Karlsruhe) and Safety and Quality of Meat (Kulmbach) cooperate closely in this research project to cover both the animal and plant food groups. The research encompasses investigations on the characterization of antibiotic-resistance genes (resistome), as well as the transfer of such genes by mobile genetic elements (mobilome). The investigations include sequencing of both bacterial plasmids and chromosomes and new strategies to minimize the occurrence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are evaluated. Such novel strategies include the use of bacteriophages as biocontrol agents.
The spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is an increasing problem for the treatment of diseases. The aim of this project is to investigate the transfer of plasmids on which antibiotic resistance genes are located between bacteria in food and human faecal samples. The aim is to clarify how antibiotic resistance genes spread among food bacteria and whether these can be transmitted to intestinal bacteria. To achieve this goal, enterobacteria isolated from lettuce and vegetables on tetracycline-containing agar were phenotypically and genotypically identified and characterized. For genotypic characterization, the sequencing methods MiSeq from Illumina and MinION from Oxford Nanopore Technologies were used to completely sequence both the chromosome and bacterial plasmids. By bioinformatically combining the data from both methods, it was possible to generate mostly complete genome and plasmid sequences. The genome sequences were used, among other things, for species identification, which allowed the bacteria used in this study to be clearly assigned to the genera Enterobacter, Escherichia, Serratia, Klebsiella and Citrobacter. These are opportunistic pathogens that can cause serious human infections in clinics. Sequencing has also made it possible to present the genomes and plasmids as maps showing the genetic make-up of the DNA present in the bacteria. This enabled plasmid-specific genes to be detected and antibiotic resistance genes to be identified both on the genome and on the plasmid. The interim results of this study showed enterobacteria from vegetables possess small plasmids (smaller than 5,500 bp) as well as large plasmids (33,000 bp and 330,000 bp). These carry resistance genes such as tetA, strA, sul1, blaCTX-M-15, blaTEM-1B, QnrB1 and catA1, which cause resistance to various antibiotics. The genetic makeup of the plasmids also indicated that the plasmids are transferable. This will be confirmed in further studies by means of conjugation experiments (experiments on plasmid exchange between bacteria). In the next steps, the plasmid exchange will be tested first in the Petri dish, but later also on the surfaces of plant-based food and in faecal samples.
1. Cho, G.-S., Li, B., Rostalsky, A., Fiedler, G., Rösch, N., Igbinosa, E., Kabisch, KJ. Bockelmann, W., Hammer, P., Huys, G. and Franz, C.M.A.P. 2018. Diversity and antibiotic susceptibility of Acinetobacter strains from milk powder produced in Germany. Front. Microbiol. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.00536.
2. Stoll, D.A., Stark, N.C., Becker, B., Kulling, S.E. und Huch, M. 2018. Antibiotic susceptibility of Enterobacteriaceae, isolated from sprouts, mixed salads and ready-to-eat salads in Germany. Journal of Food Safety and Food Quality 69, 49-56.
3. Fiedler, G., Brinks, E., Böhnlein, C., Cho, G.-S., Koberg, S., Kabisch, J.,Franz, C.M.A.P. 2018. Draft genome sequence of the intimin-positive enteropathogenic Escherichia albertii strain MBT-EA1, isolated from lettuce. Genome Announcements 6: e00255-18.
4. Igbinosa, E., Rathje, J., Habermann, D., Brinks,, E., Cho, G.-S., Franz, C.M.A.P. 2018. Draft genome sequence of multidrug-resistant strain Citrobacter portucalensis MBTC-1222, isolated from Uziza (Piper guineense) Leaves in Nigeria. Genome Announcements 6(9), e00123-18
5. Chowdhury F, Langenkämper G, Grote M. 2016. Studies on uptake and distribution of antibiotics in red cabbage. Journal für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit. 11, 61-69.
6. Schwake-Anduschus C, Langenkämper G. 2018 Chlortetracycline and related tetracyclines: detection in wheat and rye grain. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.8982.
Section overview
Subjects
- Food Processing
- Food microbiology
Framework programme
Funding programme
Excutive institution
MRI - Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology (MRI-MBT)
