Antibiotic resistance in the viral fraction of dairy products and a nut-based milk

Phages, the most abundant biological entities in the biosphere, can carry different bacterial genes, including those conferring antibiotic resistance. In this study, dairy products were analyzed by qPCR for the presence of phages and phage particles containing antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Ele...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of food microbiology 2022-04, Vol.367, p.109590-109590, Article 109590
Main Authors: Blanco-Picazo, Pedro, Gómez-Gómez, Clara, Morales-Cortes, Sara, Muniesa, Maite, Rodríguez-Rubio, Lorena
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Antibiotic resistance
Antibiotics
ARG
Bacteriophage
bacteriophages
Bacteriophages - genetics
Biosphere
Dairy products
Drug resistance
Drug Resistance, Microbial - genetics
E coli
Electron microscopy
Escherichia coli
Food matrix
food microbiology
fresh cheeses
Genes
Genes, Bacterial
genome
Genomes
Horchata
Humans
Ingestion
intestines
Kefir
Milk
Myoviridae
Nuts
Phages
Plant-based beverages
Prophages
Siphoviridae
Transduction
yogurt
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Summary:Phages, the most abundant biological entities in the biosphere, can carry different bacterial genes, including those conferring antibiotic resistance. In this study, dairy products were analyzed by qPCR for the presence of phages and phage particles containing antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Eleven ARGs were identified in 50 samples of kefir, yogurt, milk, fresh cheese and nut-based milk (horchata), purchased from local retailers in Barcelona. Propagation experiments showed that at least some of the phages isolated from these samples infected Escherichia coli WG5, which was selected as the host strain because it does not contain prophages or ARGs in its genome. Electron microscopy revealed that the phage particles showed morphologies compatible with the Myoviridae and Siphoviridae families. Our results show that dairy products contain ARGs within infectious phage particles and may therefore serve as a reservoir of ARGs that can be mobilized to susceptible hosts, both in the food matrix and in the intestinal tract after ingestion. •Eleven different ARGs were detected in the viral fraction of different dairy products.•Some of the ARGs-carrying phage particles were able to propagate in a laboratory strain.•blaTEM was the most prevalent ARG detected in all samples.
ISSN:0168-1605
1879-3460
DOI:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2022.109590