Simulated Microgravity Promotes Horizontal Gene Transfer of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes between Bacterial Genera in the Absence of Antibiotic Selective Pressure.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria are able to adapt and survive in harsh and changing environments through many mechanisms, with one of them being horizontal gene transfer (HGT). This process is one of the leading culprits in the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) within bacterial communities and could pose a significant health threat to astronauts if they fell ill, especially on long-duration space missions. In order to better understand the degree of HGT activity that could occur in space, biosafety level-2, donor and recipient bacteria were co-cultured under simulated microgravity (SMG) on Earth with concomitant 1G controls. Two AMR genes, blaOXA-500 and ISAba1, from the donor Acinetobacter pittii, were tracked in four recipient strains of Staphylococcus aureus (which did not harbor those genes) using pol

SUBMITTER: Urbaniak C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8468678 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature