antibiotic resistance
Public and Environmental Health MicrobiologyAntibacterial and Antivirulence Activity of Manuka Honey against Genetically Diverse Staphylococcus pseudintermedius StrainsStaphylococcus pseudintermedius is an important member of the skin microbial community in animals and can cause opportunistic infections in both pets and their owners. The high incidence of antimicrobial resistance in S. pseudintermedius highlights that this opportunistic zoonotic pathogen can cause...
Enzymology and Protein EngineeringLysin LysMK34 of Acinetobacter baumannii Bacteriophage PMK34 Has a Turgor Pressure-Dependent Intrinsic Antibacterial Activity and Reverts Colistin ResistanceA. baumannii is one of the most challenging pathogens for which development of new and effective antimicrobials is urgently needed. Colistin is a last-resort antibiotic, and even colistin-resistant A. baumannii strains exist. Here, we present a lysin that sensitizes...
Public and Environmental Health MicrobiologyMetagenomics as a Public Health Risk Assessment Tool in a Study of Natural Creek Sediments Influenced by Agricultural and Livestock Runoff: Potential and LimitationsCurrent agricultural and livestock practices contribute to fecal contamination in the environment and the spread of food- and waterborne disease and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Traditionally, the level of pollution and risk to public health are assessed by culture-based tests for the intestinal bacterium Escherichia coli. However, the accuracy of these...
Public and Environmental Health Microbiology | SpotlightMicrobial Community Distribution and Core Microbiome in Successive Wound Grades of Individuals with Diabetic Foot UlcersChronic nonhealing diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a serious complication of diabetes and are further exacerbated by bacterial colonization. The microbial burden in the wound of each individual displays diverse morphological and physiological characteristics with unique patterns of host-pathogen interactions, antibiotic resistance, and virulence. Treatment involves empirical decisions until definitive results on the causative wound...
Environmental MicrobiologyA Comprehensive Account of Escherichia coli Sequence Type 131 in Wastewater Reveals an Abundance of Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Clade A StrainsST131 is a global pathogen. This clone causes urinary tract infections and is frequently isolated from human sources. However, little is known about ST131 from environmental sources. With the widely reported increase in antibiotic concentrations found in wastewater, there is additional selection pressure for the emergence of antibiotic-resistant ST131 in this niche. The unbiased screening approach reported herein revealed that...
Evolutionary and Genomic Microbiology | SpotlightEscherichia coli Clonobiome: Assessing the Strain Diversity in Feces and Urine by Deep Amplicon SequencingBacterial species in the microbiome are often represented by multiple genetically and phenotypically different strains, making insight into subspecies diversity critical to a full understanding of the microbiome, especially with respect to opportunistic pathogens. However, methods allowing efficient high-throughput clonal typing are not currently available. This study combines a conventional...
Environmental MicrobiologyPopulation Dynamics of Salmonella enterica within Beef Cattle Cohorts Followed from Single-Dose Metaphylactic Antibiotic Treatment until SlaughterSalmonella is a leading bacterial foodborne pathogen, causing a significant number of human infections and deaths every year in the United States. Macrolides and 3rd-generation cephalosporins play critical roles in the treatment of human salmonellosis. Use of these antibiotics in beef cattle can select for resistant bacteria that may enter the food chain or spread from the farm via manure. There is a lack of longitudinal...
Food MicrobiologyChicken Meat-Associated Enterococci: Influence of Agricultural Antibiotic Use and Connection to the ClinicBacteria that contaminate food can serve as a conduit for moving drug resistance genes from farm to table to clinic. Our results show that chicken meat-associated isolates of Enterococcus are often multidrug resistant, closely related to pathogenic lineages, and harbor worrisome virulence factors. These drug-resistant agricultural isolates could thus represent important stepping stones in the evolution of enterococci into drug-...
Food MicrobiologyBiocide-Tolerant Listeria monocytogenes Isolates from German Food Production Plants Do Not Show Cross-Resistance to Clinically Relevant AntibioticsFoodborne pathogens such as L. monocytogenes can persist in food production environments for a long time, causing perennial outbreaks. Hence, bacterial pathogens are able to survive cleaning and disinfection procedures. Accordingly, they may be repeatedly exposed to sublethal concentrations of disinfectants, which might result in bacterial adaptation to these biocides...
Genetics and Molecular BiologyTyping of mecD Islands in Genetically Diverse Methicillin-Resistant Macrococcus caseolyticus Strains from CattleSince its first description in 2017, the methicillin resistance gene mecD has been detected in M. caseolyticus strains from different cattle sources and countries. Our study provides new insights into the molecular diversity of mecD-carrying M. caseolyticus strains by using two approaches to characterize mecD elements: (i) multiplex PCR for molecular typing of McRImecD and...