National antibiotic consumption is strongly related to the prevalence of antibiotic resistance across bacterial clades
Summary: The impact of societal antibiotic consumption on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance across microbial taxa in natural environments has not yet been assessed at global scales. Here, I examine the prevalence of 155 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in 300,209 bacterial genomes, from non-...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-02-01
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| Series: | iScience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224029390 |
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| Summary: | Summary: The impact of societal antibiotic consumption on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance across microbial taxa in natural environments has not yet been assessed at global scales. Here, I examine the prevalence of 155 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in 300,209 bacterial genomes, from non-clinical non-human-associated terrestrial environments at over 9,600 locations in 44 countries. I then compare ARG prevalences to nationwide antibiotic consumption rates, distinguishing between different ARG types. I find that depending on country and ARG type, ARG prevalences can be extremely high; for example, the probability that a given quinolone resistance gene is present in a given strain in Thailand was estimated at 42%. Further, I find strong positive correlations between nationwide antibiotic consumption rates and mean ARG prevalences for nearly all ARG types. Thus, national antibiotic consumption leaves a signal on the prevalence of ARGs across the bacterial tree, even in non-clinical environments. |
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| ISSN: | 2589-0042 |