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Functional Metagenomics as a Tool for Identification of New Antibiotic Resistance Genes from Natural Environments

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Abstract

Antibiotic resistance has become a major concern for human and animal health, as therapeutic alternatives to treat multidrug-resistant microorganisms are rapidly dwindling. The problem is compounded by low investment in antibiotic research and lack of new effective antimicrobial drugs on the market. Exploring environmental antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) will help us to better understand bacterial resistance mechanisms, which may be the key to identifying new drug targets. Because most environment-associated microorganisms are not yet cultivable, culture-independent techniques are essential to determine which organisms are present in a given environmental sample and allow the assessment and utilization of the genetic wealth they represent. Metagenomics represents a powerful tool to achieve these goals using sequence-based and functional-based approaches. Functional metagenomic approaches are particularly well suited to the identification new ARGs from natural environments because, unlike sequence-based approaches, they do not require previous knowledge of these genes. This review discusses functional metagenomics-based ARG research and describes new possibilities for surveying the resistome in environmental samples.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAP-DF), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil

    Débora Farage Knupp dos Santos, Paula Istvan & Ricardo Henrique Kruger

  2. Embrapa-Agroenergia, Brasília, DF, Brazil

    Betania Ferraz Quirino

  3. Universidade Católica de Brasília, Genomic Sciences and Biotechnology Program, Brasília, DF, Brazil

    Betania Ferraz Quirino

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  1. Débora Farage Knupp dos Santos
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  2. Paula Istvan
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  4. Ricardo Henrique Kruger
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Correspondence to Ricardo Henrique Kruger.

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dos Santos, D.F.K., Istvan, P., Quirino, B.F. et al. Functional Metagenomics as a Tool for Identification of New Antibiotic Resistance Genes from Natural Environments. Microb Ecol 73, 479–491 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-016-0866-x

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