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Loss of soil microbial diversity exacerbates spread of antibiotic resistance
- Source :
- Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2019.
-
Abstract
- Loss of biodiversity is a major threat to the ecosystem processes upon which society depends. Natural ecosystems differ in their resistance to invasion by alien species, and this resistance can depend on the diversity in the system. Little is known, however, about the barriers that microbial diversity provides against microbial invasion. The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a serious threat to public health in the 21st century. We explored the consequences of the reduction in soil microbial diversity for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance. The relationship between this diversity and the invasion of antibiotic resistance was investigated using a dilution-to-extinction approach coupled with high-capacity quantitative PCR. Microbial diversity was negatively correlated with the abundance of antibiotic-resistance genes, and this correlation was maintained after accounting for other potential drivers such as incubation time and microbial abundance. Our results demonstrate that high microbial diversity can act as a biological barrier resist the spread of antibiotic resistance. These results fill a critical gap in our understanding of the role of soil microbial diversity in the health of ecosystems.
- Subjects :
- Biological barrier
Microbial diversity
Biodiversity
Soil Science
010501 environmental sciences
Biology
01 natural sciences
03 medical and health sciences
Antibiotic resistance
Abundance (ecology)
Ecosystem
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
030304 developmental biology
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
2. Zero hunger
0303 health sciences
Critical gap
Ecology
Resistance (ecology)
respiratory system
15. Life on land
Invasiveness
13. Climate action
Ecosystem functioning
human activities
Diversity (business)
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 26622297 and 26622289
- Volume :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Soil Ecology Letters
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....aed7b03a301363d60b47b02ff14dc951