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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2008, p. 2950-2956, Vol. 74, No. 10
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00189-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Collateral Effects of Antibiotics: Carbadox and Metronidazole Induce VSH-1 and Facilitate Gene Transfer among Brachyspira hyodysenteriae Strains{triangledown}

Thaddeus B. Stanton,1* Samuel B. Humphrey,1 Vijay K. Sharma,1 and Richard L. Zuerner2

Pre-Harvest Food Safety and Enteric Diseases Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa 50010,1 Bacterial Diseases of Livestock Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa 500102

Received 21 January 2008/ Accepted 6 March 2008

Brachyspira hyodysenteriae is an anaerobic spirochete and the etiologic agent of swine dysentery. The genome of this spirochete contains a mitomycin C-inducible, prophage-like gene transfer agent designated VSH-1. VSH-1 particles package random 7.5-kb fragments of the B. hyodysenteriae genome and transfer genes between B. hyodysenteriae cells. The chemicals and conditions inducing VSH-1 production are largely unknown. Antibiotics used in swine management and stressors inducing traditional prophages might induce VSH-1 and thereby stimulate lateral gene transfer between B. hyodysenteriae cells. In these studies, VSH-1 induction was initially detected by a quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase PCR assay evaluating increased transcription of hvp38 (VSH-1 head protein gene). VSH-1 induction was confirmed by detecting VSH-1-associated 7.5-kb DNA and VSH-1 particles in B. hyodysenteriae cultures. Nine antibiotics (chlortetracycline, lincomycin, tylosin, tiamulin, virginiamycin, ampicillin, ceftriaxone, vancomycin, and florfenicol) at concentrations affecting B. hyodysenteriae growth did not induce VSH-1 production. By contrast, VSH-1 was detected in B. hyodysenteriae cultures treated with mitomycin C (10 µg/ml), carbadox (0.5 µg/ml), metronidazole (0.5 µg/ml), and H2O2 (300 µM). Carbadox- and metronidazole-induced VSH-1 particles transmitted tylosin and chloramphenicol resistance determinants between B. hyodysenteriae strains. The results of these studies suggest that certain antibiotics may induce the production of prophage or prophage-like elements by intestinal bacteria and thereby impact intestinal microbial ecology.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: National Animal Disease Center, ARS, USDA, P.O. Box 70, Ames, IA 50010. Phone: (515) 663-7495. Fax: (515) 663-7458. E-mail: Thaddeus.Stanton{at}ars.usda.gov

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 21 March 2008.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2008, p. 2950-2956, Vol. 74, No. 10
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00189-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Stanton, T. B., Humphrey, S. B., Bayles, D. O., Zuerner, R. L. (2009). Identification of a Divided Genome for VSH-1, the Prophage-Like Gene Transfer Agent of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae. J. Bacteriol. 191: 1719-1721 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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