Evaluation of cultivable microorganisms in risky sites for horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance genes

• Grant number: 20/02228-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2020
• End date: December 25, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: María Eugenia Guazzaroni
• Grantee: João Vitor Wagner Ordine
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/04309-1 - Novel approaches to improve functional screening of biocatalysts in metagenomic libraries, AP.JP

Abstract

The issue of the growing cases of antibiotic resistant bacteria is a world-wide preoccupation, due to the increase of the number of cases of multiresistant microorganisms. Despite of the advances in researches in finding new drugs in an attempt to control this advance, microorganisms keep adapting themselves and become more resistance every day. Besides that, every time it becomes more evident that human pathogens and environmental microorganisms share antibiotic resistance genes. This scenario is more increased when there is a huge anthropic activity in sites as agricultural soils, which make a selective pressure, due to the intensive use of antibiotics, favoring the presence of resistant bacteria. Because of this reason, monitoring risky sites is needed, in the attempt to stop the increase in the resistance. Therefore, the present proposal is has, as the main objective, verify the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in environmental soil samples, of different sites and with different effects of human activities. For this, soil samples of different sites will be collected, in order to isolate antibiotic resistant bacteria. The selected isolated will be characterized and identified and the bacterial populations of each site will be compared, taking in count the anthropic activity in the place. Beyond that, antibiotic resistance genes will be detected through PCR assays and each antibiotic MIC will be determined in liquid medium. The results of this work may contribute, in the future, for the study of the human activity effects in disseminating the antibiotic bacterial resistance.