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We know that bacteria are incredibly stubborn microorganisms, and new research suggests that they are also able to travel thousands of miles in the air. As you can imagine, this discovery has implications for the spread of antibiotic resistance.
It was previously thought that germs must attack humans and animals to circumnavigate the world, but it seems that they are capable of spreading by themselves over long distances.
To arrive at these conclusions, the scientists studied the "memories" recorded in the bacterial DNA, namely the traces left by encounters that the bacterium had had with viruses (bacteriophages) in the past. The question is how did these virus records get there?
"Our research suggests that there must be a global mechanism to ensure the exchange of bacteria between distant places," says lead researcher, molecular biochemist Konstantin Severinov of Rutgers University in New Jersey.
A hot spring in the Tatio, Chile. (Yaroslav Ispolatov)
The gene records examined by the team were found in the Thermus thermophilus bacteria. The researchers took samples of gravel and hot springs at five different sites in Italy, Chile and Russia, including Vesuvius.
One remembers a virus or bacteriophage infection because the surviving cells transmit the viral DNA to the next generation, in regions called CRISPR networks. Scientists can track the interaction of bacteria with viruses over time.
This is a form of self defense: by cutting samples of the viruses encountered, bacteria can better resist them next time.
The team of researchers discovered that some of these pieces of viral DNA were similar on all these disparate sites, thousands of miles apart. It seems that at least some strains of T. thermophilus have crossed vast intercontinental distances, but have received no help from other living beings.
"Because the bacteria we are studying live in very hot water – about 160 degrees Fahrenheit [71 degrees Celsius] – in remote places, it is not possible to imagine animals, birds or humans carrying them, "Severinov explains.
"They have to be airlifted and this movement has to be very important so that bacteria living in isolated places share common characteristics."
It remains to be seen exactly how the bacteria are moving, but previous research has shown that microorganisms in sneezes can travel short distances by resisting biological decomposition that would normally kill them outside the body of the body. ;host.
For the moment, this idea of air transport over long distances remains an badumption that corresponds to these results. The team then wants to badyze air samples taken at different altitudes and around the world, using aircraft, drones and research balloons. This will allow a comparison between the groups of bacteria and their stories.
In the end, it should give us a better idea of how bacteria – and antibiotic resistance – are spreading around the world, which allows us to better manage it.
"Our badysis could shed light on ecological and epidemiological studies of harmful bacteria sharing antibiotic resistance genes around the world and likely to disperse by air rather than by human travelers," Severinov said.
The search was published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
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