Latent antibiotic resistance genes are abundant, diverse, and mobile in human, animal, and environmental microbiomes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bacterial communities in humans, animals, and the external environment maintain a large collection of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, few of these ARGs are well-characterized and thus established in existing resistance gene databases. In contrast, the remaining latent ARGs are typically unknown and overlooked in most sequencing-based studies. Our view of the resistome and its diversity is therefore incomplete, which hampers our ability to assess risk for promotion and spread of yet undiscovered resistance determinants.

Results

A reference database consisting of both established and latent ARGs (ARGs not present in current resistance gene repositories) was created. By analyzing more than 10,000 metagenomic samples, we showed that latent ARGs were more

SUBMITTER: Inda-Diaz JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9993715 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature