Chicken liver is a potential reservoir of bacteriophages and phage-derived particles containing antibiotic resistance genes
Blanco-Picazo, Pedro (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística)
Gómez-Gómez, Clara (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística)
Aguiló-Castillo, Sergi (Barcelona Supercomputing Center)
Fernandez-Orth, Dietmar (Cerba Internacional)
Cerdà-Cuéllar, Marta (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries. Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal)
Muniesa, Maite (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística)
Rodríguez-Rubio, Lorena (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística)

Date:	2022
Abstract:	Poultry meat production is one of the most important agri-food industries in the world. The selective pressure exerted by widespread prophylactic or therapeutic use of antibiotics in intensive chicken farming favours the development of drug resistance in bacterial populations. Chicken liver, closely connected with the intestinal tract, has been directly involved in food-borne infections and found to be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, including Campylobacter and Salmonella. In this study, 74 chicken livers, divided into sterile and non-sterile groups, were analysed, not only for microbial indicators but also for the presence of phages and phage particles containing antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Both bacteria and phages were detected in liver tissues, including those dissected under sterile conditions. The phages were able to infect Escherichia coli and showed a Siphovirus morphology. The chicken livers contained from 10 3 to 10 6 phage particles per g, which carried a range of ARGs (bla , bla , sul1, qnrA, armA and tetW) detected by qPCR. The presence of phages in chicken liver, mostly infecting E. coli, was confirmed by metagenomic analysis, although this technique was not sufficiently sensitive to identify ARGs. In addition, ARG-carrying phages were detected in chicken faeces by qPCR in a previous study of the group. Comparison of the viromes of faeces and liver showed a strong coincidence of species, which suggests that the phages found in the liver originate in faeces. These findings suggests that phages, like bacteria, can translocate from the gut to the liver, which may therefore constitute a potential reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes. Phage particles carrying antibiotic resistant genes have been found in chicken livers. Metagenomic analysis of chicken liver viromes (PL) and chicken faeces viromes (HP) suggests that these phage particles could translocate from chicken gut to the liver.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación BES-2017-081296 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-170 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación AGL2016-75536-P Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-113355GB-I00
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Microbial biotechnology, Vol. 15 (april 2022) , p. 2464-2475, ISSN 1751-7915

DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14056
PMID: 35485188

12 p, 1.3 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA-IRTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles