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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lincoln, Nebraska » Agroecosystem Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #415634
Research Project: Managing Manure as a Soil Resource for Improved Biosecurity, Nutrient Availability, and Soil Sustainability

Location: Agroecosystem Management Research

Title: Novel antibiotic resistance profiles in bacteria isolated from oil fly larve Helaeomyia petrolei living in the La Brea Tar pits

Author
item Durso, Lisa
item Shamimuzzaman, Md
item DILLARD, BRIAN - University Of Nebraska
item NICKERSON, K.W. - University Of Nebraska

Submitted to: Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/27/2024
Publication Date: 12/24/2024
Citation: Durso, L.M., Shamimuzzaman, M., Dillard, B., Nickerson, K. 2024. Novel antibiotic resistance profiles in bacteria isolated from oil fly larve Helaeomyia petrolei living in the La Brea Tar pits. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 118. Article 42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-024-02050-z.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-024-02050-z

Interpretive Summary: Oil fly larvae mature in the toxic asphalt seeps of Rancho La Brea, Los Angeles, Calif. These larvae are able to pass high amounts of toxic asphalt through their digestive system with no discernible negative effects. While they do not derive nutrients from the asphalt, they can survive and grow in this harsh environment. Similar to all life, these oil fly larvae have bacteria living in their digestive system that are also in contact with the asphalt and thus should possess some form of tolerance to this toxic environment. It is known that environmental stress can co-select for antibiotic resistance, and in the current study we use DNA-based methods to characterize the antibiotic resistance in bacteria from the oil fly intestinal tract. The isolates contain a core set of antibiotic resistance determinants along with determinants that are rarely found in these species. Among the common types of antibiotic resistance are many genes that code for efflux pumps which can pump a variety of compounds out of the cell, in addition toantibiotics. These efflux pumps likely help the bacteria survive in the tar pit environment. Results highlight the dual-use nature of some antibiotic resistance mechanisms, and expand our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary role of antibiotic resistance genes in environmental habitats.

Technical Abstract: Larvae from the petroleum oil fly, Helaeomyia petrolei, live in the asphaltene and polyaromatic hydrocarbon rich asphalt seeps of Rancho La Brea, Los Angeles, California. These larvae pass high amounts of viscous asphalt through their digestive system, and their gut microbiota is exposed to these extreme conditions. Environmental stress response mechanisms can co-select for antibiotic resistance, and in the current study we used 16S rRNA and genomic sequencing along with the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD) tools to characterize antibiotic resistance profiles from six bacteria previously isolated from the oil fly larval intestinal tract, linking phenotypic and genotypic resistance profiles. The isolates contain a core set of antibiotic resistance determinants along with determinants that are rarely found in these species. Comparing these oil fly isolates to the phenotypic prevalence data generated by the CARD Resistance Gene Identifier revealed sixteen instances where the oil fly bacteria appeared to carry a resistance not seen in related taxa in the database, suggesting a novel suite of resistance families in the oil fly isolates compared to other members of the same taxa. Results highlight the functional duality of genes that code for antibiotic resistance and expand our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary role of antibiotic resistance genes in environmental habitats.