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Selection for antibiotic resistance is reduced when embedded in a natural microbial community

View ORCID ProfileUli Klümper, Mario Recker, Lihong Zhang, Xiaole Yin, Tong Zhang, Angus Buckling, William Gaze
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/529651
Uli Klümper
1CLES & ESI, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom
2European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, ESI, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom
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  • ORCID record for Uli Klümper
  • For correspondence: u.klumper@exeter.ac.uk
Mario Recker
3College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom
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Lihong Zhang
2European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, ESI, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom
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Xiaole Yin
4Department of Civil Engineering, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Tong Zhang
4Department of Civil Engineering, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Angus Buckling
1CLES & ESI, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom
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William Gaze
2European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, ESI, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom
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Abstract

Antibiotic resistance has emerged as one of the most pressing, global threats to public health. In single-species experiments selection for antibiotic resistance occurs at very low antibiotic concentrations. However, it is unclear how far these findings can be extrapolated to natural environments, where species are embedded within complex communities. We competed isogenic strains of Escherichia coli, differing exclusively in a single chromosomal resistance determinant, in the presence and absence of a pig fecal microbial community across a gradient of antibiotic concentration for two relevant antibiotics: gentamicin and kanamycin. We show that the minimal selective concentration was increased by more than one order of magnitude for both antibiotics when embedded in the community. We identified two general mechanisms were responsible for the increase in minimal selective concentration: an increase in the cost of resistance and a protective effect of the community for the susceptible phenotype. These findings have implications for our understanding of the evolution and selection of antibiotic resistance, and can inform future risk assessment efforts on antibiotic concentrations.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted January 24, 2019.
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Selection for antibiotic resistance is reduced when embedded in a natural microbial community
Uli Klümper, Mario Recker, Lihong Zhang, Xiaole Yin, Tong Zhang, Angus Buckling, William Gaze
bioRxiv 529651; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/529651
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Selection for antibiotic resistance is reduced when embedded in a natural microbial community
Uli Klümper, Mario Recker, Lihong Zhang, Xiaole Yin, Tong Zhang, Angus Buckling, William Gaze
bioRxiv 529651; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/529651

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