Vancomycin gene selection in the microbiome of urban Rattus norvegicus from hospital environment

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Widespread use of antibiotics has resulted in selection pressure on genes that make bacteria non-responsive to antibiotics. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria are currently a major threat to global health. There are various possibilities for the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. It has been argued that animal vectors such as Rattus norvegicus (R. norvegicus) living in hospital sewage systems are ideal for carrying pathogens responsible for fatal diseases in humans. METHODOLOGY Using a metagenomic sequencing approach, we investigated faecal samples of R. norvegicus from three major cities for the presence of antibiotic resistance genes. RESULTS We show that despite the shared resistome within samples from the same geographic locations, samples from hospital area carry significantly abundant vancomycin resistance genes. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS The observed pattern is consistent with a selection for vancomycin genes in the R. norvegicus microbiome, potentially driven by the outflow of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria into the wastewater systems. Carriage of vancomycin resistance may suggest that R. norvegicus is acting as a reservoir for possible transmission to the human population.