AUTHOR=Ewbank Ana Carolina , Esperón Fernando , Sacristán Carlos , Sacristán Irene , Neves Elena , Costa-Silva Samira , Antonelli Marzia , Rocha Lorenço Janaina , Kolesnikovas Cristiane K. M. , Catão-Dias José Luiz 

TITLE=Occurrence and Quantification of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in the Gastrointestinal Microbiome of Two Wild Seabird Species With Contrasting Behaviors

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.651781

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2021.651781

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<p>Antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) are environmental pollutants and anthropization indicators. We evaluated human interference in the marine ecosystem through the ocurrence and quantification (real-time PCRs) of 21 plasmid-mediated ARGs in enema samples of 25 wild seabirds, upon admission into rehabilitation: kelp gull (<italic>Larus dominicanus, n</italic> = 14) and Magellanic penguin (<italic>Spheniscus magellanicus, n</italic> = 11). Overall, higher resistance values were observed in kelp gulls (non-migratory coastal synanthropic) in comparison with Magellanic penguins (migratory pelagic non-synanthropic). There were significant differences between species (respectively, kelp gull and Magellanic penguin): ARGs occurrence (<italic>bla</italic><sub>TEM</sub> [<italic>p</italic> = 0.032]; <italic>tet</italic>M [<italic>p</italic> = 0.015]; <italic>tet</italic>A [<italic>p</italic> = 0.003]; and <italic>sul</italic>II [<italic>p</italic> = 0.007]), mean number of ARGs per sample (<italic>p</italic> = 0.031), ARGs mean load percentage (<italic>aad</italic>A [<italic>p</italic> = 0.045], <italic>tet</italic>A [<italic>p</italic> = 0.031], <italic>tet</italic>M [<italic>p</italic> = 0.016], <italic>bla</italic><sub>TEM</sub> [<italic>p</italic> = 0.032], <italic>sul</italic>II [<italic>p</italic> = 0.008]), percentage of genes conferring resistance to an antimicrobial class (betalactams [<italic>p</italic> = 0.036] and sulfonamides [<italic>p</italic> = 0.033]), mean number of genes conferring resistance to one or more antimicrobial classes (<italic>p</italic> = 0.024]), percentage of multiresistant microbiomes (<italic>p</italic> = 0.032), and clustering (<italic>p</italic> = 0.006). These differences are likely due to these species' contrasting biology and ecology - key factors in the epidemiology of ARGs in seabirds. Additionally, this is the first report of <italic>mec</italic>A in seabirds in the Americas. Further studies are necessary to clarify the occurrence and diversity of ARGs in seabirds, and their role as potential sources of infection and dispersal within the One Health chain of ARGs.</p>