Modelling the impact of wastewater flows and management practices on antimicrobial resistance in dairy farms.

Dairy slurry is a major source of environmental contamination with antimicrobial resistant genes and bacteria. We developed mathematical models and conducted on-farm research to explore the impact of wastewater flows and management practices on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in slurry. Temporal fluctuations in cephalosporin-resistant were observed and attributed to farm activities, specifically the disposal of spent copper and zinc footbath into the slurry system.

Tracking antimicrobial resistance transmission in urban and rural communities in Bangladesh: a One Health study of genomic diversity of ESBL-producing and carbapenem-resistant .

Unlabelled: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant threat to global health and sustainable development goals, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study aimed to understand the transmission of AMR between poultry, humans, and the environment in Bangladesh using a One Health approach. We analyzed the whole genome sequences (WGS) of 117 extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing (ESBL-Ec) isolates, with 46 being carbapenem resistant.

The long and short of it: benchmarking viromics using Illumina, Nanopore and PacBio sequencing technologies.

Viral metagenomics has fuelled a rapid change in our understanding of global viral diversity and ecology. Long-read sequencing and hybrid assembly approaches that combine long- and short-read technologies are now being widely implemented in bacterial genomics and metagenomics. However, the use of long-read sequencing to investigate viral communities is still in its infancy.

Impact of contrasting poultry exposures on human, poultry, and wastewater antibiotic resistomes in Bangladesh.

Through the use of DNA sequencing, our study shows that there is no significant difference in the antibiotic resistance genes found in stool samples taken from individuals with high exposure to poultry routinely fed antibiotics and those without such exposure. This finding is significant as it suggests limited transmission of antibiotic resistance genes between poultry and humans in these circumstances. However, our research also demonstrates that commercially reared poultry are more likely to possess resistance genes to antibiotics commonly administered on medium-sized farms.

The adaptability of the ion-binding site by the Ag(I)/Cu(I) periplasmic chaperone SilF.

The periplasmic chaperone SilF has been identified as part of an Ag(I) detoxification system in Gram-negative bacteria. Sil proteins also bind Cu(I) but with reported weaker affinity, therefore leading to the designation of a specific detoxification system for Ag(I). Using isothermal titration calorimetry, we show that binding of both ions is not only tighter than previously thought but of very similar affinities.

Laboratory strains of K-12: things are seldom what they seem.

K-12 was originally isolated 100 years ago and since then it has become an invaluable model organism and a cornerstone of molecular biology research. However, despite its pedigree, since its initial isolation K-12 has been repeatedly cultured, passaged and mutagenized, resulting in an organism that carries many genetic changes. To understand more about this important model organism, we have sequenced the genomes of two ancestral K-12 strains, WG1 and EMG2, considered to be the progenitors of many key laboratory strains.

Multidrug-Resistant ESBL-Producing in Clinical Samples from the UK.

Globally, cephalosporin therapy failure is a serious problem for infection control. One causative agent of cephalosporin-resistant infections is multidrug-resistant (MDR) producing extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and/or plasmid-encoded AmpC (pAmpC) β-lactamases. We evaluated the occurrence of ESBL/pAmpC genetic determinants in phenotypically MDR isolated from clinical samples of blood, faeces, ear effusion, urine and sputum from a UK hospital.

Laboratory Stock Variants of the Archetype Silver Resistance Plasmid pMG101 Demonstrate Plasmid Fusion, Loss of Transmissibility, and Transposition of Tn// Into the Host Chromosome.

Typhimurium carrying the multidrug resistance (MDR) plasmid pMG101 was isolated from three burns patients in Boston United States in 1973. pMG101 was transferrable into other spp. and hosts and carried what was a novel and unusual combination of AMR genes and silver resistance.

Hybrid assembly of an agricultural slurry virome reveals a diverse and stable community with the potential to alter the metabolism and virulence of veterinary pathogens.

Background: Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth, known to be crucial components of microbial ecosystems. However, there is little information on the viral community within agricultural waste. There are currently ~ 2.

Antibiotic and Metal Resistance in Isolated from Pig Slaughterhouses in the United Kingdom.

Antimicrobial resistance is currently an important concern, but there are few data on the co-presence of metal and antibiotic resistance in potentially pathogenic entering the food chain from pork, which may threaten human health. We have examined the phenotypic and genotypic resistances to 18 antibiotics and 3 metals (mercury, silver, and copper) of from pig slaughterhouses in the United Kingdom. The results showed resistances to oxytetracycline, streptomycin, sulphonamide, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, ceftiofur, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, aztreonam, and nitrofurantoin.

A generalised model for generalised transduction: the importance of co-evolution and stochasticity in phage mediated antimicrobial resistance transfer.

Antimicrobial resistance is a major global challenge. Of particular concern are mobilizable elements that can transfer resistance genes between bacteria, leading to pathogens with new combinations of resistance. To date, mathematical models have largely focussed on transfer of resistance by plasmids, with fewer studies on transfer by bacteriophages.

Genome Sequence and Characterization of Coliphage vB_Eco_SLUR29.

Bacteriophages that infect are relatively easily isolated, with >600 coliphage genomes sequenced to date. Despite this there is still much to be discovered about the diversity of coliphage genomes. Within this study, we isolated a coliphage from cattle slurry collected from a farm in rural England.

Metagenomics of the Viral Community in Three Cattle Slurry Samples.

The diversity of viruses in slurries from dairy farming remains largely uncharacterized. Here we report viral diversity found in cattle slurry from a dairy farm in the East Midlands in the United Kingdom. The same slurry tank was sampled in three consecutive years, and the viral fraction was isolated and sequenced.

Removal of copper from cattle footbath wastewater with layered double hydroxide adsorbents as a route to antimicrobial resistance mitigation on dairy farms.

Copper and zinc are routinely used in livestock antimicrobial footbaths in commercial farming. The footbath mix is a cost to farmers, and the disposal of spent footbath into slurry tanks leads to soil contamination, as well as the potential for antimicrobial metal resistance and co-selection. This study assesses the potential to mitigate a source of antimicrobial metal resistance in slurry tanks while recovering copper and zinc from spent cattle footbaths.

Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife.

The isolation of antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB) from wildlife living adjacent to humans has led to the suggestion that such antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is anthropogenically driven by exposure to antimicrobials and ARB. However, ARB have also been detected in wildlife living in areas without interaction with humans. Here, we investigated patterns of resistance in Escherichia coli isolated from 408 wild bird and mammal faecal samples.

Metal Resistance and Its Association With Antibiotic Resistance.

Antibiotic resistance is recognised as a major global threat to public health by the World Health Organization. Currently, several hundred thousand deaths yearly can be attributed to infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The major driver for the development of antibiotic resistance is considered to be the use, misuse and overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals.

Draft Genome Sequence of the Bacteriophage vB_Eco_slurp01.

Bacteriophage vB_Eco_slurp01 was isolated from porcine feces using Escherichia coli MG1655 as a host. With a genome size of 348 kb, vB_Eco_slurp01 is one of the largest bacteriophages isolated to date.

SilE is an intrinsically disordered periplasmic "molecular sponge" involved in bacterial silver resistance.

Ag(+) resistance was initially found on the Salmonella enetrica serovar Typhimurium multi-resistance plasmid pMG101 from burns patients in 1975. The putative model of Ag(+) resistance, encoded by the sil operon from pMG101, involves export of Ag(+) via an ATPase (SilP), an effluxer complex (SilCFBA) and a periplasmic chaperon of Ag(+) (SilE). SilE is predicted to be intrinsically disordered.

Mathematical modelling of antimicrobial resistance in agricultural waste highlights importance of gene transfer rate.

Antimicrobial resistance is of global concern. Most antimicrobial use is in agriculture; manures and slurry are especially important because they contain a mix of bacteria, including potential pathogens, antimicrobial resistance genes and antimicrobials. In many countries, manures and slurry are stored, especially over winter, before spreading onto fields as organic fertilizer.

Multidrug resistant, extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli isolated from a dairy farm.

Escherichia coli strains were isolated from a single dairy farm as a sentinel organism for the persistence of antibiotic resistance genes in the farm environment. Selective microbiological media were used to obtain 126 E. coli isolates from slurry and faeces samples from different farm areas.

Survival in amoeba--a major selection pressure on the presence of bacterial copper and zinc resistance determinants? Identification of a "copper pathogenicity island".

The presence of metal resistance determinants in bacteria usually is attributed to geological or anthropogenic metal contamination in different environments or associated with the use of antimicrobial metals in human healthcare or in agriculture. While this is certainly true, we hypothesize that protozoan predation and macrophage killing are also responsible for selection of copper/zinc resistance genes in bacteria. In this review, we outline evidence supporting this hypothesis, as well as highlight the correlation between metal resistance and pathogenicity in bacteria.