Invasion Success Determinants in bacteria and the Environmental Resistome

The rapid antibiotic resistance development during the last 25 years constitutes a health crisis declared by the WHO to be a global challenge threatening the fundamental achievement of modern medicine. Environmental bacteria host a wide diversity of genes that can confer resistance to antibiotics, which can constitute a source of resistance to human pathogens. This project uses high-throughput sequencing techniques to identify genes improving colonization and invasion ability – or resistance to invasion – in microbial communities under exposure to sub-lethal antibiotics concentrations. To achieve this, we use an experimental system constructed by Prof. Jo Handelsman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The project also involves Prof. Joakim Larsson at University of Gothenburg, who is an expert on resistance development under low concentrations of antibiotics. The project will contribute important knowledge towards the understanding of microbial ecosystem interactions and highlight disturbances to the interactions in microbial communities caused by anthropogenic antibiotic exposure. The genes identified as important for invasion may include novel antibiotic resistance factors, potentially exploiting unknown resistance mechanisms, which could make their way into pathogens in the future. The results of the project will allow for prediction of secondary effects of antibiotic exposure and better prepare us for future challenges related to infections with resistant bacteria.