Phages are a cause of antibiotic resistance

Development of antibiotic resistance by so-called phages
The increasing antibiotic resistance of bacteria is a major concern for medical professionals worldwide. Now, scientists from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna have found out that so-called phages play an obvious role in the development of antibiotic resistance.

Phages are special viruses that do not infect humans or animals, but only bacteria. The researchers of veterinary medicine. University of Vienna discovered in their investigations phages on poultry meat, which can transmit antibiotic resistance to bacteria and therefore may play a significant role in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance. The study was published in the journal "Applied and Environmental Microbiology".

Phages are viruses that attack bacteria and can transmit antibiotic resistance. Picture: elviragerecht / fotolia.com

Increasing antibiotic resistance is a problem
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a major problem in medicine. Because common antibiotics are often ineffective in the treatment of infectious diseases, because the disease germs could acquire so-called resistance genes. These genes are transmitted in different ways, with the most common transmission by mobile genetic elements such as plasmids succeed, reports the study author Friederike Hilbert of the Institute of Meat Hygiene at the Veterinary. University of Vienna. Bacteria are able to exchange the ring-shaped DNA elements with each other. The resistance genes could also be passed on "via transposons, so-called jumping genes," explains Hilbert. In this case, "resistance transmission by phages has so far been attributed little significance".

Phages on the chicken
Investigations by researchers on isolated phages from 50 chicken meat samples purchased in the Austrian trade show that the special viruses can play an important role in the development of antibiotic resistance. In 49 samples phages were detected, which was not unexpected, since phages occur wherever there are bacteria, write the Austrian scientists. Also, phage would not be a problem for us humans "because they can only infect bacteria, but not other cells or living things." Therefore, a direct health risk from the phages on the chicken meat is not enough.

Antibiotic resistance transmitted by phages
However, analysis of the samples showed that "a quarter of the phages studied were able to transfer antibiotic resistance to E. coli bacteria under laboratory conditions," write Hilbert and colleagues. "Resistance to kanamycin, tetracycline, ampicillin, and chloramphenicol has been transmitted". "This mechanism could also play an important role in human medicine in hospitals, because there are often multi-resistant germs there," said Hilbert. The researchers assume that the phages absorb resistance genes from already resistant bacteria and then transfer them to other bacteria. Thus, the current study results could also explain "how to transfer resistance in a natural environment between bacteria." (Fp)

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