An investigation study on antimicrobial resistance in Arctic environments

This research has explored antibiotic resistance in Arctic environments; it also is investigated the bacterial diversities. Our tested hypothesis stated that there is a natural occurrence of blaTEM alleles, encoding resistance to ampicillin, in microbial populations localised in environments with little human influence. Studying the bacterial diversity in faeces of polar bear on Svalbard revealed an uncomplicated microbiota consisting of members of the phyla Firmicutes, order Clostridiales, with few 16S rRNA sequences being novel. The seal colon content microbiota displayed a greater diversity and was more distinct with 81% of the sequences being novel. The circumpolar reindeer has the ability to tolerate and probably also utilize usnic acid, a natural antibiotic found in lichen eaten by reindeer. We conclude that even though low levels of blaTEM alleles were detected in the Arctic environments examined in this research work, some environments (including soil and the gastrointestinal tract) have shown to be reservoirs of antibiotic resistant organisms and their associated genes. There is little knowledge about whether these environmental reservoirs affect the pathogen microbiota, but there have been some indications of transfer of resistance genes from the environment to the clinic. Antibiotic treatment is our primary method of treating infectious diseases, and more studies of the environmental resistance reservoirs are important to our future ability to fight infections.