title: Antibiotic resistance is ancient.
abstract: The discovery of antibiotics more than 70 years ago initiated a period of drug innovation and implementation in human and animal health and agriculture. These discoveries were tempered in all cases by the emergence of resistant microbes. This history has been interpreted to mean that antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria is a modern phenomenon; this view is reinforced by the fact that collections of microbes that predate the antibiotic era are highly susceptible to antibiotics. Here we report targeted metagenomic analyses of rigorously authenticated ancient DNA from 30,000-year-old Beringian permafrost sediments and the identification of a highly diverse collection of genes encoding resistance to β-lactam, tetracycline and glycopeptide antibiotics. Structure and function studies on the complete vancomycin resistance element VanA confirmed its similarity to modern variants. These results show conclusively that antibiotic resistance is a natural phenomenon that predates the modern selective pressure of clinical antibiotic use.
authors: Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8N 3Z5.
authors: Vanessa M
authors: VM
authors: D'Costa
authors: Christine E
authors: CE
authors: King
authors: Lindsay
authors: L
authors: Kalan
authors: Mariya
authors: M
authors: Morar
authors: Wilson W L
authors: WW
authors: Sung
authors: Carsten
authors: C
authors: Schwarz
authors: Duane
authors: D
authors: Froese
authors: Grant
authors: G
authors: Zazula
authors: Fabrice
authors: F
authors: Calmels
authors: Regis
authors: R
authors: Debruyne
authors: G Brian
authors: GB
authors: Golding
authors: Hendrik N
authors: HN
authors: Poinar
authors: Gerard D
authors: GD
authors: Wright
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D018742:DNA, Chloroplast / Q000235:genetics; D005615:Freezing; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology; D049690:History, Ancient; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D056186:Metagenomics; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012800:Siberia; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000235:genetics; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D018742:DNA, Chloroplast; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; C075526:RNA, ribosomal, 12S; D001618:beta-Lactamases