Abundance of tigecycline resistance genes and association with antibiotic residues in Chinese livestock farms

Yulin Fu; Yiqiang Chen; Dejun Liu; Dawei Yang; Zhihai Liu; Yingyu Wang; Jiayi Wang; Xueyang Wang; Xiangyue Xu; Xing Li; Junjia He; Junyao Jiang; Weishuai Zhai; Lingli Huang; Tao He; Xi Xia; Chang Cai; Yang Wang; Haiyang Jiang

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124921

Abundance of tigecycline resistance genes and association with antibiotic residues in Chinese livestock farms

J Hazard Mater. 2021 May 5:409:124921. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124921. Epub 2021 Jan 6.

Authors

Yulin Fu¹, Yiqiang Chen², Dejun Liu¹, Dawei Yang³, Zhihai Liu⁴, Yingyu Wang¹, Jiayi Wang², Xueyang Wang¹, Xiangyue Xu⁵, Xing Li¹, Junjia He¹, Junyao Jiang¹, Weishuai Zhai¹, Lingli Huang⁵, Tao He⁶, Xi Xia¹, Chang Cai⁷, Yang Wang⁸, Haiyang Jiang⁹

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Key Laboratory of Detection Technology for Animal-Derived Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
³ China Institute of Veterinary Drug Control, Beijing 100081, China.
⁴ College of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China.
⁵ National Laboratory for Veterinary Drug Safety Evaluation, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China.
⁶ Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China.
⁷ Research and Innovation Office, Murdoch University, Murdoch 6150, Australia; China Australia Joint Laboratory for Animal Health Big Data Analytics, College of Animal Science and Technology, Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University, Hangzhou 311300, China.
⁸ Beijing Key Laboratory of Detection Technology for Animal-Derived Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. Electronic address: wangyang@cau.edu.cn.
⁹ Beijing Key Laboratory of Detection Technology for Animal-Derived Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. Electronic address: haiyang@cau.edu.cn.

PMID: 33421874
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124921

Abstract

The discovery of plasmid-mediated tet(X) variants and efflux pump gene tmexCD1-toprJ1 conferring bacteria resistance to tigecycline has compromised glycylcycline as the last line of defense against infection, which poses serious threat to public health. Herein, real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the abundance of seven tigecycline resistance genes (TRGs), including six tet(X) variants and tmexCD1-toprJ1, and insertion sequences ISCR2 and IS26. Then, the concentrations of nine antibiotics were quantified in fecal samples collected from 157 livestock farms in four Chinese provinces. TRGs, especially tet(X4), tmexCD1-toprJ1, and insertion sequences ISCR2 and IS26, were more abundant in chicken feces than in pig and cattle feces, suggesting the greater risk for the propagation of TRGs in chicken feces. Positive correlations (ρ = 0.3741-0.8275, P < 0.0001) between ISCR2/IS26 and TRGs (except tet(X1)) further demonstrated that ISCR2 mediates the transfer of tet(X3), tet(X4), and tet(X5) and that IS26 plays a certain role for the mobilization of tet(X4) and tmexCD1-toprJ1. Tetracyclines had no positive correlation with the abundance of TRGs (except tet(X1)), meanwhile florfenicol and tiamulin were positively correlated with TRGs. However, further research is needed to confirm whether or not florfenicol and tiamulin are potential driving factors of TRG accumulation.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance; Feces; tet(X); tmexCD1-toprJ1.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents* / pharmacology
Cattle
China
Farms
Livestock*
Swine
Tigecycline

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Tigecycline