Monitoring longitudinal antimicrobial resistance trends of Staphylococcus aureus strains worldwide over the past 100 years to decipher its evolution and transmission.

Staphylococcus aureus inhabits diverse habitats including food waste and wastewater treatment plants. Cases of S. aureus-induced infection are commonly reported worldwide. The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of S. aureus is a growing public health threat worldwide. Here, we longitudinally monitored global trends in antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) of 586 S. aureus strains, isolated between 1884 and 2022. The ARGs in S. aureus exhibited a significant increase over time (P < 0.0001). Mobile genetic elements play a crucial role in the transfer of ARGs in S. aureus strains. The structural equation model results revealed a significant correlation between the human development index and rising antibiotic consumption, which subsequently leads to an indirect escalation of AMR in S. aureus strains. Lastly, a machine learning algorithm successfully predicted the AMR risk of global terrestrial S. aureus with over 70% accuracy. Overall, these findings provided valuable insights for managing AMR in S. aureus.

Horizontal gene transfer in activated sludge enhances microbial antimicrobial resistance and virulence.

Activated sludge (AS) plays a vital role in removing organic pollutants and nutrients from wastewater. However, the risks posed by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between bacteria in AS are still unclear. Here, a total of 478 high-quality non-redundant metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were obtained. >50 % and 5 % of MAGs were involved in at least one HGT and recent HGT, respectively. Most of the transfers (82.4 %) of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) occurred among the classes of Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria. The bacteria involved in the transfers of virulence factor genes (VFGs) mainly include Alphaproteobacteria (42.3 %), Bacteroidia (19.2 %), and Gammaproteobacteria (11.5 %). Moreover, the number of ARGs and VFGs in the classes of Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria was higher than that in other bacteria (P < 0.001). Mobile genetic elements were important contributors to ARGs and VFGs in AS bacteria. These results have implications for the management of antimicrobial resistance and virulence in activated sludge microorganisms.

[Clinical significance and risk factors of redundant nerve root in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical significance and screen the risk factors of redundant nerve roots(RNRs) in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. METHODS: The clinical data of 196 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis in the department of Spinal Surgery, Yijishan Hospital, Wannan Medical College from April 1, 2015 to November 30, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were divided into RNRs positive group and RNRs negative group according to the presence of RNRs. The differences in general clinical data, imaging parameters, visual analogue scale(VAS), Oswestry disability index(ODI), and other indicators between the two groups were compared. The risk factors which are highly correlated with RNRs were screened by binary Logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: There were 59 cases in the RNRs positive group, with an occurrence rate of 29.95% (59/137), and 137 cases in the RNRs negative group. The incidence rate of RNRs in 196 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis was 30.10% (59/196). VAS and ODI scores of patients in the two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05), and clinical symptoms of patients in the RNRs positive group were more severe than those in the RNRs negative group. There were significant differences in age, number of stenosis segments, average area of lumbar dural sac, area of the narrowest segment and the narrowest segment(P<0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that the number of stenosis segments, the average median sagittal diameter of spinal canal, and the average area of dural sac in lumbar intervertebral space were correlated with the generation of RNRs (P<0.05). The regression coefficient of the number of stenosis segments was -1.115, the regression coefficient of the median sagittal diameter of the spinal canal was -1.707, and the regression coefficient of the mean dural sac area of the lumbar intervertebral space was 7.556. CONCLUSION: The clinical symptoms of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis accompanied by RNRs are more severe than those without them. The number of narrow segments, median sagittal diameter of the spinal canal, and the area of the lumbar intervertebral dural sac are the high-risk factors for RNRs, with the area of the lumbar intervertebral dural sac has the highest correlation.

Distinct increase in antimicrobial resistance genes among Vibrio parahaemolyticus in recent decades worldwide.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a common pathogen, and has emerged with multiple antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, few studies have conducted large-scale investigations of AMR and virulence trends of V. parahaemolyticus worldwide. This study longitudinally monitored antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence factor genes (VFGs) trends of 1540 V. parahaemolyticus isolates isolated from 1951 to 2021. The number of ARGs in V. parahaemolyticus isolates distinctly increased over the years (P = 5.9e-10), while the number of VFGs decreased significantly (P < 2.2e-16). However, the number of VFGs of isolates isolated from humans has not changed significantly over the years (R = 0.013, P = 0.74), suggesting that the pathogenic risk to humans has not been reduced. Besides, mobile genetic elements are important contributors to ARGs in V. parahaemolyticus (R = 0.34, P < 2.2e-16), but have no promoting effect on VFGs (P = 0.50). The structural equation model illustrated that the human development index promoted the consumption of antibiotics, thereby indirectly promoting an increase in the AMR of the V. parahaemolyticus isolates. Finally, the random forest was performed to predict the ARG and VFG risks of global terrestrial V. parahaemolyticus isolates, and successfully map these threats with over 80% accuracy. This study aimed to evaluate the global risks posed by AMR and virulence, which helps to develop methods specifically targeting V. parahaemolyticus to mitigate these threats.

Monitoring Longitudinal Trends and Assessment of the Health Risk of Shigella flexneri Antimicrobial Resistance.

Shigella flexneri infection is the main cause of diarrhea in humans worldwide. The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of S. flexneri is a growing public health threat worldwide, while large-scale studies monitoring the longitudinal AMR trends of isolates remain scarce. Here, the AMR gene (ARG) profiles of 717 S. flexneri isolates from 1920 to 2020 worldwide were determined. The results showed that the average number of ARGs in isolates has increased significantly, from 19.2 ± 2.4 before 1970 to 29.6 ± 5.3 after 2010. In addition, mobile genetic elements were important contributors to ARGs in S. flexneri isolates. The results of the structural equation model showed that the human development index drove the consumption of antibiotics and indirectly promoted the antibiotic resistance. Finally, a machine learning algorithm was used to predict the antibiotic resistance risk of global terrestrial S. flexneri isolates and successfully map the antibiotic resistance threats in global land habitats with over 80% accuracy. Collectively, this study monitored the longitudinal AMR trends, quantitatively surveilled the health risk of S. flexneri AMR, and provided a theoretical basis for mitigating the threat of antibiotic resistance.

Deciphering the succession patterns of bacterial community and their correlations with environmental factors and flavor compounds during the fermentation of Zhejiang rosy vinegar.

Zhejiang Rosy Vinegar (ZRV) is a traditional condiment in Southeast China, produced using semi-solid-state fermentation techniques under an open environment, yet little is known about the functional microbiota involved in the flavor formation of ZRV. In this study, 43 kinds of volatile flavor substances were identified by HS-SPME/GC-MS, mainly including ethyl acetate (relative content at the end of fermentation: 1104.1 mg/L), phenylethyl alcohol (417.6 mg/L) and acetoin (605.2 mg/L). The most abundant organic acid was acetic acid (59.6 g/L), which kept rising during the fermentation, followed by lactic acid (7.0 g/L), which showed a continuously downward trend. Amplicon sequencing analysis revealed that the richness and diversity of bacterial community were the highest at the beginning and then maintained decreasing during the fermentation. The predominant bacteria were scattered in Acetobacter (average relative abundance: 63.7%) and Lactobacillus (19.8%). Both sequencing and culture-dependent analysis showed Lactobacillus dominated the early stage (day 10 to 30), and Acetobacter kept highly abundant from day 40 to the end. Spearman correlation analysis displayed that the potential major groups involved in the formation of flavor compounds were Acetobacter and Lactobacillus, which were also showed strong relationships with other bacteria through co-occurrence network analysis (edges attached to Acetobacter: 61.7%; Lactobacillus: 14.0%). Moreover, structural equation model showed that the contents of ethanol, titratable acid and reducing sugar were the major environmental factors playing essential roles in influencing the succession of bacterial community and their metabolism during the fermentation. Overall, these findings illuminated the dynamic profiles of bacterial community and flavor compounds and the potential functional microbes, which were expected to help us understand the formation of flavor substances in ZRV.