近日，广东工业大学环境健康与污染控制研究院、环境科学与工程学院安太成教授团队与澳大利亚昆士兰大学郭建华教授团队合作，在近海养殖水体中抗生素耐药性的流行与传播方面取得重要进展。研究成果以《Prevalence and transmission risk of colistin and multidrug resistance in long-distance coastal aquaculture》为题，于近期在nature出版社旗下的ISME Communications (https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-023-00321-w)期刊上接受发表。论文的主要作者为安太成教授和蔡仪威博士研究生等，通讯作者为安太成教授和郭建华教授，广东工业大学为论文的第一单位。

论文网址：https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-023-00321-w

由于各种抗生素的误用和滥用，集约化水产养殖环境已经成为了抗生素抗性组的重要储存库。虽然目前已有粘菌素耐药基因和多重耐药菌(MDRB)在养殖水体中的污染状况方面的相关报道，但通过水平基因转移(HGT)在菌群之间传播粘菌素耐药性和多药耐药性的实验证据仍旧非常匮乏。为此，本研究通过对我国典型亚热带地区超过5000公里海岸线上的近海养殖水体样品进行了采样检测，通过qPCR、菌群多样性、宏基因组测序和实验室模拟等系列研究，开展9个近海水产养殖区域水体中粘菌素和多药耐药性的流行率与传播风险研究，发现粘菌素抗性基因mcr−1、可移动遗传元件(MGE) intl1和其它13个典型抗生素抗性基因(ARGs)在所研究的区域水体中均普遍流行。并基于实验室的接合转移和转化转移实验的结果证据，发现大部分类型的抗生素(包括粘菌素)的耐药性均可以在菌群中发生水平转移传播。同时还在大部分近海水产养殖水体样本中检测到了不同MDRB的存在，并从中分离得到了一株高粘菌素抗性的菌株Ralstonia pickettii MCR。研究发现该菌株通过接合转移或转化途径来进行水平传播粘菌素耐药性的风险较低，但可以通过垂直转移稳定传递粘菌素耐药性给其子代菌株。本研究的结论对未来全球水产养殖业的抗生素使用的监管具有非常重要的指示意义，同时也可以为应对抗生素耐药性对人类健康带来的日益增长的威胁提供一定的技术支持。

英文摘要：

Due to the wide use of antibiotics, intensive aquaculture farms have been recognized as a significant reservoir of antibiotic resistomes. Although the prevalence of colistin resistance genes and multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDRB) has been documented, empirical evidence for the transmission of colistin and multidrug resistance between bacterial communities in aquaculture farms through horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is lacking. Here, we report the prevalence and transmission risk of colistin and multidrug resistance in 27 aquaculture water samples from 9 aquaculture zones from over 5000 km of subtropical coastlines in southern China. The colistin resistance gene mcr−1, mobile genetic element (MGE) intl1 and 13 typical antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were prevalent in all the aquaculture water samples. Most types of antibiotic (especially colistin) resistance are transmissible in bacterial communities based on evidence from laboratory conjugation and transformation experiments. Diverse MDRB were detected in most of the aquaculture water samples, and a strain with high-level colistin resistance, named Ralstonia pickettii MCR, was isolated. The risk of horizontal transfer of the colistin resistance of R. pickettii MCR through conjugation and transformation was low, but the colistin resistance could be steadily transmitted to offspring through vertical transfer. The findings have important implications for the future regulation of antibiotic use in aquaculture farms globally to address the growing threat posed by antibiotic resistance to human health.

项目资助：本研究受到国家自然科学基金项目(42330702，41425015和42122056)，广东省重点研发计划项目(2020B1111350002)，粤桂联合基金重点项目(2020B1515420002)，和广东省本土创新科研团队项目(2017BT01Z032)的资助。