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Molecular Ecology of Class 1 Integrons in Patagonia as Model System for Understanding the Rise of Antibiotic Resistance Isolates Around the World

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Biology and Biotechnology of Patagonian Microorganisms

Abstract

The understanding of the molecular basis of the flux of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARG) is a fundamental requirement to develop a comprehensive explanation of how pathogenic strains adapt to extreme resistance phenotypes at a global scale. However, it is difficult to assess how ARG interact with human activities. This constraint led us to seek a suitable biological model system, which has two components: class 1 integrons as the main molecular element of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, and Tierra del Fuego Island as the study area. Both clinical and non-clinical strains were studied from this island for the presence of class 1 integrons. The 30 % of clinical strains and the 11 % of strains isolated from the open environment were intI1 positive, respectively, sharing 3 intI1 “clinical” alleles previously described in nosocomial strains from Europe, Africa, and Asia, depicting an interchange of genes among both habitats, the hospital and the sites close to human activities in Ushuaia City. It is likely that once the intI1-positive clinical strains are released from the hospital, the intI1 genes can be transferred through the mechanisms of lateral genetic transfer to other bacterial species from the open environment where they can be maintained over time.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Investigaciones de los Mecanismos de Resistencia a Antibióticos, Instituto de Microbiología y Parasitología Médica (IMPaM, UBA-CONICET), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Verónica Elizabeth Álvarez, María Paula Quiroga & Daniela Centrón

  2. Hospital Regional de Ushuaia, Ushuaia, Argentina

    Gabriel Alejandro Castro

  3. Grupo GEMA, Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Nacional de Luján, Luján, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Marcelo Hernán Cassini

  4. Laboratorio de Biología del Comportamiento, IBYME, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Marcelo Hernán Cassini

Authors
  1. Verónica Elizabeth Álvarez
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  2. María Paula Quiroga
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  3. Gabriel Alejandro Castro
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  4. Marcelo Hernán Cassini
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  5. Daniela Centrón
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniela Centrón .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Patagonian Institute for the Study of Continental Ecosystems (IPEEC-CENPAT), National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Argentina

    Nelda Lila Olivera

  2. Andean-Patagonian Institute for Biological and Geoenvironmental Technologies (IPATEC) CONICET, National University of Comahue, Bariloche, Argentina

    Diego Libkind

  3. Industrial Fermentation Research and Development Center (CINDEFI), CONICET-UNLP, School of Science National University of La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

    Edgardo Donati

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Álvarez, V.E., Quiroga, M.P., Castro, G.A., Cassini, M.H., Centrón, D. (2016). Molecular Ecology of Class 1 Integrons in Patagonia as Model System for Understanding the Rise of Antibiotic Resistance Isolates Around the World. In: Olivera, N., Libkind, D., Donati, E. (eds) Biology and Biotechnology of Patagonian Microorganisms. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42801-7_7

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