Exploring the aquatic resistome

Antibiotic resistance is one of the major problems in public health today since the failure of antibiotherapy has dramatic clinical implications such as the increase of mobility/mortality and of health costs. Antibiotic resistance is a dynamic process since antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, and the corresponding genetic material, flows and disseminates among several settings simultaneously: humans, animals and natural habitats. Water environments are recognized as important pools of antibiotic pollution and antibiotic resistance genes, but the water resistome (collection of all genes responsible for antibiotic resistance in water environments) is far from being characterized. It is well known that antibiotic pollution affects the structure/functioning/diversity of aquatic ecosystems, namely the cyanobacteria community. However, the role of cyanobacteria in the context of antibiotic resistance was never characterized. In this presentation, the aims, the team, the methodologies and the preliminary results of the national project EXPLORAR – Exploring the Aquatic Resistome (PTDC/BIA-BMA/31451/2017), founded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, PT) will be discussed. In this project, we are investigating the contribution of indigenous freshwater organisms (cyanobacteria and bacteria) to water resistome. We expect to identify and characterize ecological niches associated with antibiotic resistance in freshwater environments. This may contribute to define a monitoring strategy to map the antibiotic resistance profiles of national freshwater resources. We expect to contribute to the definition of preventive measures against the dissemination of antibiotic resistance in the environment.PTDC/BIA-BMA/31451/2017, founded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, PT)N/