Invincible bacteria discovered in Antarctica. Free Technical Library News

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Invincible bacteria discovered in Antarctica

11.02.2012

Bacteria resistant to almost all antibiotics have been found in seawater off the coast of Antarctica.

Swedish researchers from the University of Uppsala took seawater samples at a distance of 100-300 meters from three Chilean Antarctic research stations, Bernardo O'Higgins, Arturo Prat and Fildes Bay. A quarter of the samples contained Escherichia coli synthesizing the extended-spectrum beta-lactamase enzyme, which can neutralize the activity of penicillins, cephalosporins and other beta-lactam antibiotics.

These compounds, the main element of the molecules of which is represented by a beta-lactam ring, are currently the most popular drugs for the treatment of bacterial infections. Bacteria that carry the extended spectrum beta-lactamase gene are even more dangerous than the famous methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The fact is that the beta-lactamase gene is part of plasmids - mobile genetic elements that are easily transmitted between bacterial cells, including different types. This greatly increases the risk of outbreaks of treatment-resistant infectious diseases, such as the epidemic of intestinal infections in Germany in the summer of 2011 caused by pathogenic E. coli resistant to antibacterial drugs.

Discovered in Antarctica, a variant of the beta-lactamase gene, known as CTX-M, is often found in bacteria that inhabit the human body. Therefore, most likely, antibiotic-resistant E. coli got into the water as a result of sewage from research stations. This assumption is also supported by the fact that the concentration of such bacteria in the water increases as one approaches the stations. The results of a recent study suggest that bacteria can retain the CTX-M gene even in the absence of antibiotics in the environment. Therefore, there is a very high probability that resistant microorganisms that have got into the wild can be preserved in animals, acting in this case as reservoirs of infection.

Researchers have determined that penguins that live in close proximity to Antarctic research stations are not yet infected with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing bacteria. They are currently surveying the gulls living in the same area. It is noteworthy that the gulls inhabiting the coast of France have already been noticed in the carriage of resistant microorganisms.

Some Antarctic research stations have already begun to remove sewage for decontamination. However, experts are sounding the alarm, as the discovery of antibiotic-resistant bacteria off the coast of Antarctica indicates how far, both literally and figuratively, the problem has gone.

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