Emergence of methicillin resistance predates the clinical use of antibiotics.

Larsen, Jesper; Raisen, Claire L; Ba, Xiaoliang; Sadgrove, Nicholas J; Padilla-González, Guillermo F; Simmonds, Monique S J; Loncaric, Igor; Kerschner, Heidrun; Apfalter, Petra; Hartl, Rainer; Deplano, Ariane; Vandendriessche, Stien; Černá Bolfíková, Barbora; Hulva, Pavel; Arendrup, Maiken C; Hare, Rasmus K; Barnadas, Céline; Stegger, Marc; Sieber, Raphael N; Skov, Robert L; ... (2022). Emergence of methicillin resistance predates the clinical use of antibiotics. Nature, 602(7895), pp. 135-141. Springer Nature Limited 10.1038/s41586-021-04265-w

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The discovery of antibiotics more than 80 years ago has led to considerable improvements in human and animal health. Although antibiotic resistance in environmental bacteria is ancient, resistance in human pathogens is thought to be a modern phenomenon that is driven by the clinical use of antibiotics1. Here we show that particular lineages of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus-a notorious human pathogen-appeared in European hedgehogs in the pre-antibiotic era. Subsequently, these lineages spread within the local hedgehog populations and between hedgehogs and secondary hosts, including livestock and humans. We also demonstrate that the hedgehog dermatophyte Trichophyton erinacei produces two β-lactam antibiotics that provide a natural selective environment in which methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolates have an advantage over susceptible isolates. Together, these results suggest that methicillin resistance emerged in the pre-antibiotic era as a co-evolutionary adaptation of S. aureus to the colonization of dermatophyte-infected hedgehogs. The evolution of clinically relevant antibiotic-resistance genes in wild animals and the connectivity of natural, agricultural and human ecosystems demonstrate that the use of a One Health approach is critical for our understanding and management of antibiotic resistance, which is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP) > Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology > Molecular Bacterial Epidemiology and Infectiology
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP)
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP) > Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology

UniBE Contributor:

Perreten, Vincent

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
600 Technology > 630 Agriculture

ISSN:

1476-4687

Publisher:

Springer Nature Limited

Language:

English

Submitter:

Vincent Perreten

Date Deposited:

24 Feb 2022 16:30

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 16:07

Publisher DOI:

10.1038/s41586-021-04265-w

PubMed ID:

34987223

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/165217

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/165217

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