Molecular Ecology Of Macrolide-Lincosamide-Streptogramin B Methylases in Waste Lagoons and Subsurface Waters Associated with Swine Production

• Published in: Microbial ecology 2010-04, Vol.59 (3), p.487-498
• Main Authors: Koike, Satoshi, Aminov, Rustam I., Yannarell, A. C., Gans, Holly D., Krapac, Ivan G., Chee-Sanford, Joanne C., Mackie, Roderick I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics; Bacteria; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; DNA Primers; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial - genetics; Ecological genetics; Ecology; ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY; Fresh Water - microbiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; Genes, Bacterial; Geoecology/Natural Processes; Groundwater; Lagoons; Life Sciences; Lincosamides - pharmacology; Macrolides - pharmacology; Microbial Ecology; Microbiology; Nature Conservation; Phylogeny; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Product category rules; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Streptogramin B - pharmacology; Streptomyces; Streptomyces - drug effects; Streptomyces - enzymology; Streptomyces - genetics; Sustainable agriculture; Swine; Swine production; Tetracycline Resistance; tRNA Methyltransferases - genetics; tRNA Methyltransferases - isolation & purification; Waste Disposal, Fluid; Waste lagoons; Water Microbiology; Water Quality/Water Pollution; Water wells
• ISSN: 0095-3628; 1432-184X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00248-009-9610-0

RNA methylase genes are common antibiotic resistance determinants for multiple drugs of the macrolide, lincosamide, and streptogramin B (MLS B ) families. We used molecular methods to investigate the diversity, distribution, and abundance of MLS B methylases in waste lagoons and groundwater wells at two swine farms with a history of tylosin (a macrolide antibiotic structurally related to erythromycin) and tetracycline usage. Phylogenetic analysis guided primer design for quantification of MLS B resistance genes found in tylosin-producing Streptomyces (tlr(B), tlr(D)) and commensal/pathogenic bacteria (erm(A), erm(B), erm(C), erm(F), erm(G), erm(Q)). The near absence of tlr genes at these sites suggested a lack of native antibiotic-producing organisms. The gene combination erm(ABCF) was found in all lagoon samples analyzed. These four genes were also detected with high frequency in wells previously found to be contaminated by lagoon leakage. A weak correlation was found between the distribution of erm genes and previously reported patterns of tetracycline resistance determinants, suggesting that dissemination of these genes into the environment is not necessarily linked. Considerations of gene origins in history (i.e., phylogeny) and gene distributions in the landscape provide a useful "molecular ecology" framework for studying environmental spread of antibiotic resistance.