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Antibiotic resistance, which the CDC calls one of the world’s most pressing public health crises, is now found in the bowels of lemurs, our distant primate cousins.
In a new study published Aug. 9 in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Duke researchers found evidence of antibiotic resistance in the microbiome of lemurs living near humans. And the closer the contact, the more resistance they found to the antibiotics.
The research team, graduate student Sally Bornbusch and Christine Drea, professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, sampled ring-tailed lemurs feces and sequenced the genes of all the microbes therein, to the search for genetic markers of resistance to antibiotics.
The study compared 10 populations of lemurs: seven wild populations in Madagascar, two from research facilities – the Lemur Rescue Center in Madagascar and the Duke Lemur Center in the United States – and finally a group of lemurs kept as animals of company in Madagascar.
In wild animals, the average proportion of resistance genes in the gut microbiomes was close to zero. But in animals at research facilities, this proportion was more than 25 times that of wild lemurs. In pet lemurs, the proportion was almost 35 times higher.
This is probably partly due to good veterinary care: lemurs living in research centers are treated for infections when needed, and are therefore more directly exposed to antibiotics than their wild cousins.
However, pet lemurs that probably never received veterinary care harbored the greatest abundance of antibiotic resistance genes.
Keeping a lemur as a pet is illegal in Madagascar, so those who keep lemurs are unlikely to take these animals to a veterinarian and risk legal consequences. These pet lemurs therefore acquire antibiotic-resistant microbes simply by sharing their environment with humans and pets.
Ring-tailed lemurs are omnivores and generalists who eat dirt, droppings, and whatever else they can find. In a domestic household, they are often in constant contact with humans, perched on the shoulders of their owner, or in the arms of tourists ready to pay for a photo (a practice harmful to both humans and animals).
Bornbusch said that this physical and social environment apparently contributes to antibiotic resistance in pet lemurs.
“Germs are like a blanket that covers everything. They are not only in our bowels, but also on our skin, our furniture, our food and our water, ”said Bornbusch. “They are everywhere, all the time, and they are easily transmitted from one environment to another.
Among wild lemurs, resistance to antibiotics varied according to a gradient of human activity. Animals in areas affected by livestock grazing, agriculture, or tourism harbored more antibiotic-resistant microbes than those from more pristine environments, but still far fewer than lemurs living near humans.
“Antibiotic treatment is clearly not the only mechanism leading to an increased abundance of resistance genes in these animals,” Bornbusch said.
In fact, even among lemurs housed in research facilities, those who had never received antibiotic treatment had a similar number of antibiotic resistance genes compared to lemurs at the same facility who had been treated multiple times for antibiotic resistance. infections.
Proximity to humans also determined the type of resistance genes that were acquired. The microbiomes of Madagascar ring-tailed lemurs have shown evidence of resistance to antibiotics used to control plague outbreaks, while lemurs in the United States have shown resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics in North America.
Genes for resistance to antibiotics are not new. Microbes mutated and developed resistance genes over millions of years in an arms race with natural antibiotics.
In a natural scenario, this process rarely causes problems. But things started to go wrong when humans harnessed the power of natural antibiotics and released artificial antibiotics.
“Humans came in, developed antibiotics, spread them all around us, and spread these resistance genes in natural environments and in the microbiomes of wildlife,” Bornbusch said. While bleak, these findings can have a positive impact on wildlife conservation and management practices.
“While these results are slightly frightening, they help us use the science of the microbiome to refine veterinary practices and conservation activities,” Bornbusch said. She also said that more research is needed to better understand the impact of these resistance genes on wildlife.
“Right now, we know these resistance genes exist, but we don’t know if they’re really harmful to lemurs,” Bornbusch said. “These results give us a springboard for research into the impact of these resistant microbes on wildlife and its environment. “
Reference: Bornbusch SL, Drea CM. Antibiotic resistance genes in lemur gut and soil microbiota along an anthropogenic disturbance gradient. Before Ecol Evol. 2021; 0. doi: 10.3389 / fevo.2021.704070
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