Can Clays in Livestock Feed Promote Antibiotic Resistance and Virulence in Pathogenic Bacteria?

Antibiotics

Alexandro Rodríguez-Rojas¹  Jerónimo Rodríguez-Beltrán³  José Ramón Valverde²  Jesús Blázquez³ 

[1] Institut für Biologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3-14195 Berlin, Germany;Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). Calle Darwin 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain; E-Mail:;Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBIS), Campus HU Virgen del Rocío. Avda. Manuel Siurot S/N, 41013 Seville, Spain; E-Mail:

关键词: antimicrobial;    antibiotic resistance;    horizontal gene transfer;    virulence factor;    clay;    sepiolite;   

DOI  :  10.3390/antibiotics4030299

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The use of antibiotics in animal husbandry has long been associated with the appearance of antibiotic resistance and virulence factor determinants. Nonetheless, the number of cases of human infection involving resistant or virulent microorganisms that originate in farms is increasing. While many antibiotics have been banned as dietary supplements in some countries, other additives thought to be innocuous in terms of the development and spread of antibiotic resistance are used as growth promoters. In fact, several clay materials are routinely added to animal feed with the aim of improving growth and animal product quality. However, recent findings suggest that sepiolite, a clay additive, mediates the direct transfer of plasmids between different bacterial species. We therefore hypothesize that clays present in animal feed facilitate the horizontal transfer of resistance determinants in the digestive tract of farm animals.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.