National antibiotic consumption is strongly related to the prevalence of antibiotic resistance across bacterial clades.

ABSTRACT: The impact of societal antibiotic consumption on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance across microbial taxa in natural environments has not yet been assessed at global scales. Here, I examine the prevalence of 155 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in 300,209 bacterial genomes, from non-clinical non-human-associated terrestrial environments at over 9,600 locations in 44 countries. I then compare ARG prevalences to nationwide antibiotic consumption rates, distinguishing between different ARG types. I find that depending on country and ARG type, ARG prevalences can be extremely high; for example, the probability that a given quinolone resistance gene is present in a given strain in Thailand was estimated at 42%. Further, I find strong positive correlations between nationwide antibiotic co

SUBMITTER: Louca S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11787492 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature