title: Honeybees and tetracycline resistance.
abstract: Like animals and people, insects can serve as both collectors and disseminators of antibiotic resistance genes, as exquisitely demonstrated by a recent study (B. Tian, N. H. Fadhil, J. E. Powell, W. K. Kwong, and N. A. Moran, mBio 3[6]:e00377-12, doi:10.1128/mBio.00377-12, 2012). Notably, the relatively confined ecosystem of the honeybee gut demonstrates a large propensity for harboring a diverse set of tetracycline resistance genes that reveal the environmental burden resulting from the long-time selective pressures of tetracycline use in the honeybee industry. As in humans and animals, these genes have become established in the native, nonpathogenic flora of the insect gut, adding credence to the concept that commensal floras provide large reservoirs of resistance genes that can readily move into pathogenic species. The homology of these tetracycline resistance determinants with those found in tetracycline-resistant bacteria associated with animals and humans strongly suggests a dissemination of similar or identical genes through shared ecosystems. The emergence of linked coresistances (ampicillin and tetracycline) following single-antibiotic therapy mirrors reports from other studies, namely, that long-term, single-agent therapy will result in resistance to multiple drugs. These results contrast with the marked absence of diverse, single- and multiple-drug resistance genes in wild and domestic bees that are not subjected to such selective pressures. Prospective studies that simultaneously track both resistance genes and antibiotic residues will go far in resolving some of the nagging questions that cloud our understanding of antibiotic resistance dissemination.
authors: School of Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. stuart.levy@tufts.edu
authors: Stuart B
authors: SB
authors: Levy
authors: Bonnie M
authors: BM
authors: Marshall
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*; D001516:Bees / Q000382:microbiology*; D013753:Tetracycline Resistance; D013754:Tetracyclines / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D013754:Tetracyclines
references: Clin Microbiol Rev. 2011 Oct;24(4):718-33
references: 21976606
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Sep;87(17):6609-13
references: 2204058
references: J Antimicrob Chemother. 1996 Nov;38(5):829-37
references: 8961052
references: N Engl J Med. 1988 May 5;318(18):1206-7
references: 3362171
references: mBio. 2012 Oct 30;3(6):
references: 23111871
references: N Engl J Med. 1976 Sep 9;295(11):583-8
references: 950974
references: Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1988 Dec;32(12):1801-6
references: 3266729