Linking the Resistome to the Microbiome: A Culture-Free Method Links Plasmid Virus and Antimicrobial Resistance Genes to their Hosts in Complex Microbial Populations

摘要

The rapid spread of antibiotic resistance is a global health threat. A range of environments have been identified as reservoirs of the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) found in pathogens, but we lack understanding of the origins of these ARGs and their spread from environment to clinic. This is partly due to an inability to identify the bacterial hosts of ARGs and the mobile genetic elements that mediate horizontal gene transfer due to the loss of intra-cellular contiguity upon DNA extraction.