Spanish
Madrid.- More than 70% of the antibiotic resistance genes are present in the food chain, according to an international study in which researchers from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) participated.
The research, published in the journal Nature Microbiology, analyzed more than 2,000 samples from foods such as milk, meat, fish, cheese, vegetables, as well as industrial surfaces from 100 European companies, including more than 50 located in León and Asturias.
The study focused on the resistome, that is, the set of genes that give bacteria the ability to resist antibiotics. According to Narciso Martín Quijada, researcher at the CSIC in the Institute of Functional and Genomic Biology of Salamanca, this is the first time such a broad analysis has been carried out on the relationship between the food chain and the transmission of resistant bacteria.
The results identified genes that confer resistance to tetracyclines, beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, and macrolides, key drugs in the treatment of human and animal infections. More than 60% of the analyzed samples contained at least one antimicrobial resistance gene.
The research team also detected ESKAPEE group bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, known for causing complex hospital infections. In addition, nearly 40% of the genes found are associated with mobile genetic elements, which facilitates their transfer between bacteria and increases the risk of spreading resistance.
The analysis showed that some industrial processes and manufacturing conditions can influence the presence and transmission of these genes, which opens the possibility of improving food production systems and reinforcing antibiotic and disinfectant control strategies.
This study is part of the European project MASTER (Microbiome Applications for Sustainable food systems through Technologies and EnteRprise), coordinated by the Agricultural and Food Development Authority of Ireland, with the participation of the University of León, the Dairy Products Institute of Asturias, the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC) and various universities and research centers in Italy, Austria, Ireland and Iceland.
