Meropenem-resistant bacteria in hospital effluents in Seoul, Korea
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT
Authors: Hwang, Sung Ho; Kim, Young Jin
Abstract
This study aimed to understand the prevalence, diversity, antibiotic resistance, -lactamase gene types, and possibility of environmental survival of meropenem-resistant bacteria present in hospital effluents in Seoul, Korea. Water sampling was performed at five general hospitals in Seoul, Korea, in January 2017. Water samples were plated in triplicate on tryptic soy agar plates with 16mg/L meropenem. Meropenem-resistant bacteria were selected and subjected to 16S rRNA analysis for species determination and PCR for identification of -lactamase gene types. Resistant bacteria were cultured in sterilized surface water. Meropenem-resistant bacteria exhibited resistance to more than 12 antibiotics and possessed several -lactamase genes, such as those encoding OXT-M, NDM-1, AmpC, and OXA. They were able to multiply and survive in sterilized surface water for up to 60days. Multidrug-resistant bacteria represent an environmental health risk, as they can survive in the environment for an extended period of time. Therefore, these bacteria should be monitored before discharge.
AVPR1b variation and the emergence of adaptive phenotypes in Platyrrhini primates
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY
Authors: Fam, Bibiana S. O.; Reales, Guillermo; Vargas-Pinilla, Pedro; Pare, Pamela; Viscardi, Lucas H.; Sortica, Vinicius A.; Felkl, Aline B.; Franco, Alvaro de O.; Lucion, Aldo B.; Costa-Neto, Claudio M.; Pissinatti, Alcides; Salzano, Francisco M.; Paixao-Cortes, Vanessa R.; Bortolini, Maria Catira
Abstract
Platyrrhini (New World monkeys, NWm) are a group of primates characterized by behavioral and reproductive traits that are otherwise uncommon among primates, including social monogamy, direct paternal care, and twin births. As a consequence, the study of Platyrrhine primates is an invaluable tool for the discovery of the genetic repertoire underlying these taxon-specific traits. Recently, high conservation of vasopressin (AVP) sequence, in contrast with high variability of oxytocin (OXT), has been described in NWm. AVP and OXT functions are possible due to interaction with their receptors: AVPR1a, AVPR1b, AVPR2, and OXTR; and the variability in this system is associated with the traits mentioned above. Understanding the variability in the receptors is thus fundamental to understand the function and evolution of the system as a whole. Here we describe the variability of AVPR1b coding region in 20 NWm species, which is well-known to influence behavioral traits such as aggression, anxiety, and stress control in placental mammals. Our results indicate that 4% of AVPR1b sites may be under positive selection and a significant number of sites under relaxed selective constraint. Considering the known role of AVPR1b, we suggest that some of the changes described here for the Platyrrhini may be a part of the genetic repertoire connected with the complex network of neuroendocrine mechanisms of AVP-OXT system in the modulation of the HPA axis. Thus, these changes may have promoted the emergence of social behaviors such as direct paternal care in socially monogamous species that are also characterized by small body size and twin births.