Download INTERACT- The interaction of metals and biocides with the selection

Antibiotic resistance in marine bacteria:
The role of biocides and metals in the marine
environment for promoting and
maintaining antibiotic resistance
Collaborators: Joakim Larsson (SA) & Hans Blanck (DPES)
PhD Students: Chandan Pal (SA) & Triranta Sircir (DPES)
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Antibiotics
Biocide
Antibiotic resistance
Resistance genes
Co- and Cross resistance
Horizontal gene transfer (acquiring new genes)
Vertical gene transfer (mutating existing genes)
Plasmid
Biofilm
PICT (Ecological methodology for detecting causal links
between toxicants and microbial communities)
 Metagenomics
Why is resistance a concern?
Schmieder & Edwards 2012
Spreading Resistance genes
Schmieder & Edwards 2012
Main research questions
Investigating co-selection for antibiotic resistance genes
 What antibiotic resistance genes are present in marine
environments?
 Does exposure to biocides and metals select for resistance to
antibiotics in marine bacterial communities?
 What is the genetic basis behind such co- or cross-resistance in
marine bacteria?
 Are antibiotic resistance genes hitchhiking around the globe on
ship hulls under the selection pressure from antifouling paints?
Why Interdisciplinary work?
Overcoming limitations and using the expertise
 Chemical and ecotoxicological analysis by Blanck’s
lab (PICT)
 Metagenome Sequencing (Sahlgrenska Academy/
SciLife Stockholm/BGI, Copenhagen)
 Microbiological, Molecular-biological
and Bioinformatics analysis by
Larsson’s lab
Project plan
 Sample collection from ship hulls from harbours around
Gothenburg.
 Screen microbial communities from marine aquaculture
facilities, major sewage outlets, marinas and harbours,
coastal environments polluted by industrial or agricultural
activities from different continents.
 Controlled lab experiments (PICT) on marine biofilms when
exposed to biocides and metals.
 Metagenomics approaches (Illumina NGS)
Challenges of Metagenomics
approaches
 Large number of sequencing data, data
storage, processing, lack of supercomputing
resources
 Functional confirmation of resistance genes
(transcriptometagenomics)
 Assessing the ability of spreading resistance genes
from marine microbes to human pathogen: Green
Fluorescent protein (GFP)
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Spiking marine biofilms with antibiotic-sensitive
bacteria tagged with GFP
Impact of our research collaboration
 Potential of marine pollution and current shipping
practice on human health
 On global antifouling regulations and practices
 On Pharmaceutical industry, health sector
 On regulatory agencies involved in chemical pollution
(e.g. EPA, Swedish chemical agency)
Acknowledgements
 Joakim Larsson (Sahlgrenska Academy) and Hans
Blanck (Dept. of Plant and Environmental sciences)
 Gothenburg Centre for
Marine Research
 The Swedish Research
Council FORMAS