Supermarket Produce Harbors Antibiotic Resistance Genes

Researchers from the Julius Kühn Institut, Germany have found that produce is a reservoir for transferable antibiotic resistance genes that often escape traditional molecular detection methods. These antibiotic resistance genes might escape cultivation-independent detection, but could still be transferred to human pathogens or commensals. The results, which highlight the importance of the rare microbiome of produce as a source of antibiotic resistance genes, are published November 6 in the open-access journal, mBio.

Produce is increasingly recognized as a source of pathogenic bacteria, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and antibiotic resistance genes. This study aimed to explore methods to characterize the transferable resistome -- the collection of antibiotic resistance genes present in bacteria -- associated with produce. The researchers analyzed mixed salad, arugula, and cilantro purchased from supermarkets in Germany by cultivation and DNA-based methods.

These results confirmed that cultivation-independent DNA-based methods are not always suf?ciently sensitive to detect the transferable resistome in the rare microbiome, such as that of produce.

Source: American Society for Microbiology