This danger lurks in the air of the city |

Antibiotic resistance is spreading rapidly – one of the reasons being that bacteria
can transmit resistance to one another. What the researchers did not know yet: This transmission works even in the air

Bacteria have joined forces in the fight against antibiotics: if a strain is already resistant, it can "infect" with the antibiotics. other strains with its resistance – and so on Contribute to the loss of antibiotics.

Beijing researchers have now detected antibiotic resistance even in the air – in the particles of 19 major cities around the world.

How do bacteria transmit their resistance?

Resistance is transmitted by what are called plasmids, which are circular DNA molecules that appear as small packets of data on the outside of the chromosomes in the bacterial plasma. Among other things, they can carry genes for antibiotic resistance.

Bacteria use a so-called pilus, a protein-based "appendix" on the cell, to transmit genetic information. This allows them to "connect" to other cells. Subsequently, the pilus is degraded and it comes into direct contact with both cells. Now, a so-called conjugation bridge is created, through which the genetic information of the plasmid is transferred from one cell to the other. Antibiotic resistance can also "pbad" to other bacteria via this bridge.

Bacteria can also transmit their genes after death. Then they release plasmids into the environment and other bacteria can "snap up" them and incorporate the DNA. Antibiotic resistance genes have already been detected in park and coastal soils, but also in hospitals.

Antibiotic resistance in the air

In their current study, researchers in Beijing investigated an early hypothesis that antibiotic resistance is also spreading in the air. In air samples from 19 major cities of San Francisco, Paris and Zurich in Melbourne, the team searched for 30 different genes that cause resistance to a total of seven clbades of antibiotics.

They found in all cities – especially in the summer antibiotic resistance In San Francisco, researchers found the most resistance in Beijing and China in Brisbane Australia, the greatest diversity of resistance genes. Among the least stressed cities are Indonesians Bandung, Zurich and Hong Kong. Overall, resistance to so-called beta-lactam antibiotics (eg, penicillin) has been demonstrated most frequently.

Increased airborne resistance

The team compared particulate matter collected in two years (2016 and 2017) – in the case of Chinese Xi, even ten-year data was available. This example shows that the level of resistance genes has increased dramatically in recent years.

Researchers see this new pathway of antibiotic resistance as worrisome: "Thanks to air transport, remote areas can even provide genes for antibiotic resistance without the use of antibiotics

. more attention should be paid to the problem of airborne transmission of antimicrobial resistance and research should be extended in this area.

Source: Jing Li et al. (2018): Global Survey of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Air, in: Science and Technology in the Environment.