Search for determinants of antibiotic resistance in the interior of São Paulo using functional metagenomics

Abstract

Antibiotics usage from the beginning of the 20th century brought us measurable advances in public health. However, this progress has been threatened by the ubiquitous presence of resistance to our modern antimicrobial therapy. International guidelines incentive and advise about research in the field of antibiotics resistance. This comprehension is invaluable to the design of effective public politics mitigating resistance presence. The set of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in each population is called the resistome. Studies have demonstrated that the resistome can work as an important ARGs reservoir. Nevertheless, the dynamics of resistome development have yet to be uncovered by large scale studies of those genetic determinants. Metagenomic studies of microbial communities has acted as an important tool for the resistome uncovering. Thus, metagenomic approaches can determine ARGs` presence in large scale, not being limited to lab cultured microorganisms. Functional metagenomics is a activity-based screening technique used to search for genes of interest and has the main advantage of not being dependent on previously sequenced genes, allowing to identify novel genes with unique characteristics. This project has the objective of exploring the resistome existing in the city of Ribeirao Preto through functional metagenomics, providing relevant information about ARGs circulating in the interior of the state of São Paulo. (AU)