July 26, 2019

expert reaction to study looking at antibiotic resistance genes in London’s canals and ponds

Research, published in the Journal of Microbiological Methods, reports that London’s freshwater sources contain high levels of antibiotic resistant genes.

Dr Michelle Buckner, Research Fellow in the Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, said:

“Antibiotic resistance is a serious problem, and it is good to raise awareness and to remind us that the problem is close to home.  It is well known that antibiotic resistance genes are found in almost all environments, and therefore it is not at all surprising that they have found resistance genes in London.  This paper adds to the mountain of evidence that antimicrobial resistance genes are found in water, soil and faeces – which has been known for years.

“It seems the main purpose of this study was actually to develop an inexpensive and reliable control for researchers to monitor levels of resistance genes in various environments.  They have sampled places around London because they knew these samples would have resistance genes, and could therefore be used to test their new system, which is not accurately reflected in the press release.

“There are many more comprehensive papers which have previously shown antibiotic resistance genes in waterways in multiple countries, including here in the UK.”

Prof Willem van Schaik, Professor of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, said:

“These research findings are neither new nor surprising.

“It is of no surprise that the researchers found antibiotic resistance genes – these genes are ubiquitous in the environment.  It would have been surprising if they hadn’t found them.

“It should be noted these are antibiotic resistance genes, not antibiotic resistant genes.

“There is no suggestion here that resistance genes are spreading via drinking water – the authors have not tested drinking water at all.

“I agree with the authors that more work is needed to improve the performance of wastewater treatment plants in reducing the release of resistance genes and antibiotic residues into the environment, and this has been known for more than a decade already.  The 2015 paper¹ by Liz Wellington’s group at the University of Warwick covers the same topic, but in much more detail.”

1 https://www.nature.com/articles/ismej2014237

‘Use of synthesized double-stranded gene fragments as qPCR standards 1 for the quantification of antibiotic resistance genes’ by Like Xu et al. was published in the Journal of Microbiological Methods at 00:01 UK time on Friday 26 July 2019. 

DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2019.105670

Declared interests

Prof Willem van Schaik: “None to declare.”