The wind blew
Genes of bacterial resistance to antibiotics found in the air
Natalia Pelezneva, Naked Science
An international team of researchers has concluded that antibiotic resistance genes can be transmitted from bacterium to bacterium through the air using fine particulate matter suspended in the atmosphere. Scientists analyzed samples of air pollutants collected in 19 cities around the world: the largest concentration of such genes was found in the air of San Francisco. The study is published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology (Li et al., Global Survey of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Air).
The "horizontal" transfer of bacterial resistance to antibiotics is one of the most important problems of modern healthcare. By absorbing fragments of someone else's DNA and acquiring new genes, microorganisms gain the ability to resist an increasing number of drugs, including antibiotics of the "last reserve". Earlier, American microbiologists for the first time managed to record this process using a microscope.
The authors of the new work investigated the composition of solid particles "caught" in the air of 19 cities in eight different climatic zones. The particles were collected using special filters installed on car air conditioners.
The scientists conducted a real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis by studying the concentration of 30 different genes that provide resistance to 7 types of drugs, including quinolones, beta-lactam antibiotics and tetracycline.
San Francisco had the largest concentration of such genes, Indonesian Bandung had the smallest, and the most diverse set was found in Beijing. The genes of resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics, including penicillins, turned out to be the most widespread around the world. Genes of resistance to vancomycin, the "last reserve" antibiotic, were found in six cities.
Concentration of resistance genes in different cities
© Environmental Science & Technology
According to scientists, the source of potentially dangerous solid particles is the evaporation of wastewater from factories, hospitals and farms. Antibiotics enter these waters, and local microorganisms gradually develop resistance to drugs, passing genes to each other in a "horizontal" way. The particles rise into the air and can travel long distances with air currents.
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