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Identification of mobile resistome in soils exposed to different impacts in Fildes Peninsula, King George Island

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2024

Matías Giménez Open the ORCID record for Matías Giménez [Opens in a new window] ,
Gastón Azziz Open the ORCID record for Gastón Azziz [Opens in a new window]  and
Silvia Batista Open the ORCID record for Silvia Batista [Opens in a new window]
Matías Giménez*
Affiliation:
Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, BIOGEM, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay Microbial Genomics Laboratory, Institut Pasteur Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay Center for Innovation in Epidemiological Surveillance, Institut Pasteur Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
Gastón Azziz
Affiliation:
Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, BIOGEM, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay Microbiology Laboratory, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
Silvia Batista
Affiliation:
Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, BIOGEM, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay
*
Corresponding author: Matías Giménez; email: mgimenez@pasteur.edu.uy
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Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most important global health issues identified in recent decades. Different approaches have been used to establish the presence and abundance of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGEs) in the environment. In this study, we analysed soil samples from Fildes Peninsula (King George Island, Maritime Antarctica) exposed to human and bird impacts. The objective of the work was to identify ARGEs in the samples and to evaluate whether these genes were located in plasmids using two different strategies. A metagenomic analysis was employed to identify ARGEs according to the CARD database and to determine whether they were associated with plasmidic sequences. The analysis showed that the site exposed to high anthropogenic activity had a higher number of ARGEs compared to other sites. A large percentage of those ARGEs (19.4%) was located in plasmidic contigs. We also assessed replicon mobilization using microbial communities from these soil samples as donors through an exogenous plasmid isolation method. In this case, we could recover plasmids with ARGEs in a Tcr transconjugant clone. Although they could not be fully assembled, we could detect broad host range IncP1 and IncQ plasmid sequences. Our results indicate that sewage-impacted soils could be hotspots for the spread of ARGEs into the Antarctic environment.

Keywords

antimicrobial resistance genesmetagenomicsplasmidsresistome
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 36 , Issue 6 , December 2024 , pp. 441 - 448
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antarctic Science Ltd

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