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Acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes on human skin after swimming in the ocean
- Source :
- Environmental Research. 197:110978
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2021.
-
Abstract
- The skin is a complex organ responsible for protecting the body from physical, chemical and biological insults. The skin microbiome is known to play an important role in protecting the host from skin infections. This study examined the skin microbiome and the changes in antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), antibiotic biosynthesis genes (ABSGs) and virulence factor genes (VFGs) on human skin before and after swimming in the ocean. Skin microbiome samples were collected from human participants before and after they swam in the ocean, and at 6 h and 24 h post-swim. The samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. The results showed that not only is the skin microbiome composition altered after swimming, but the abundance and diversity of ARGs, ABSGs and VFGs on the skin increased post-swim. Overall, there was an increase in total ARGs by 70.6% from before to after swimming. The elevated number of ARGs persisted and continued to increase for at least 6 h post-swim with greater than a 300% increase in comparison with samples collected before ocean swimming. The outcomes of the study support the epidemiological observations of increased risk of skin infections after swimming in the ocean. Cleaning the skin immediately after recreational ocean activities is recommended to reduce the opportunity for infection.
- Subjects :
- Oceans and Seas
Human skin
010501 environmental sciences
Biology
Skin infection
01 natural sciences
Biochemistry
Microbiology
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Antibiotic resistance
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
14. Life underwater
Microbiome
Gene
Swimming
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
General Environmental Science
integumentary system
Drug Resistance, Microbial
medicine.disease
Anti-Bacterial Agents
3. Good health
Increased risk
Genes, Bacterial
Metagenomics
human activities
Antibiotic resistance genes
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00139351
- Volume :
- 197
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Environmental Research
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....57fea5379ccf7ca617e01d0516d99c6f