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▎WuXi AppTec Content Team Editor In the 1940s, the history of modern medicine ushered in an important milestone - the large-scale production of penicillin made human beings have a drug to treat when faced with pathogenic bacteria
.
But soon, the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria greatly reduced the scope of application of penicillin
.
For more than half a century since then, the race between antibiotics and drug-resistant bacteria has continued: scientists continue to find new antibiotics, but the extensive use of antibiotics has also led to the emergence of new drug-resistant bacteria that can resist more antibiotics, threatening the health of all mankind.
healthy
.
Among them, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), discovered in the 1960s, was the first "superbug" that received widespread attention, and they were resistant to methicillin, the most effective antibiotic at that time
.
At the end of the last century, MRSA was widespread in hospitals and society, and was identified by WHO as one of the major threats to human health
.
Scientists found that MRSA evolved into different strains
.
It is believed that these different strains evolved after the emergence of antibiotics, induced by the misuse of antibiotics
.
However, a recent study published in Nature pointed out that the answer is not complete: As early as 200 years ago, a type of MRSA has emerged through natural evolution in hedgehogs
.
This special "superbug" is called mecC-MRSA, which was first discovered in cows and humans in 2011 by one of the authors of this paper, Professor Mark Holmes of Cambridge University
.
Because these cows were fed a lot of antibiotics, scientists at the time speculated that antibiotic misuse led to the emergence of these resistant bacteria in the cows in the first place
.
However, as research on mecC-MRSA has grown, the origin of this bacterium has become somewhat puzzling
.
In addition to other domesticated animals such as sheep and horses, mecC-MRSA has been found in wild animals such as wild boars, storks, snakes and hedgehogs
.
In particular, the high frequency of this bacterium on hedgehogs made the research team in this paper conjecture: perhaps, the real origin of this drug-resistant bacterium is not farms, but nature
.
To test this conjecture, a team led by Dr Ewan Harrison of the University of Cambridge first collected 276 hedgehogs from nine European countries and New Zealand
.
As a result, mecC-MRSA was detected in hedgehogs in half of the countries, and two-thirds of hedgehogs in the UK carried the strain
.
▲ The conclusion of this study does not mean that we need to fear hedgehogs (Image source: Pia B.
Hansen) Subsequently, the research team further investigated the mecC-MRSA and Staphylococcus aureus carried by these hedgehogs, as well as a large number of other sources of golden yellow Staphylococcus is sequenced, and these analyses can tell us about the evolutionary history of mecC-MRSA
.
By comparing the number of mutations in different strains of MRSA, the research team speculates that mecC-MRSA appeared in hedgehogs about 200 years ago, long before the birth of methicillin (1959)
.
▲ Schematic diagram of the reaction between the fungus T.
erinacei and MRSA in a petri dish (Photo credit: Claire L.
Raisen) Why did natural evolution bring these resistant bacteria to hedgehogs? The answer has to do with a fungus on their skin
.
Studies have shown that this fungus, Trichophyton erinacei, can secrete two β-lactam antibiotics (the familiar penicillins and cephalosporins belong to this category)
.
These naturally secreted antibiotics acted by natural selection, resulting in the coexistence of resistant mecC-MRSA with the fungus on hedgehog skin
.
"This MRSA likely emerged during co-evolutionary competition for hedgehog skin," said Dr Harrison.
"Our results suggest that MRSA was not driven by methicillin use, but rather from a natural Biological process
.
We believe that on the hedgehog's skin, MRSA wins the battle for survival, and then can be directly passed on to livestock and humans
.
"▲The evolutionary history of MRSA (Image source: Reference [1]) "Super bacteria" in Hedgehogs can be found everywhere, but that doesn't mean we're worried
.
After all, this bacterium has been following the hedgehog for two centuries, but the number of people infected with mecC-MRSA is very small, accounting for only 1/200 of all MRSA infections
.
But what we really need to worry about from this study is that resistance may be born for more common causes than we thought
.
It also reminds us that we need to be more cautious about the use of antibiotics because "resistance is everywhere," Dr Harrison said.
"We don't see it in humans, but these resistant bacteria may be hiding somewhere and eventually infecting us.
"
Because the antibiotics we currently use are primarily sourced from nature, the researchers caution that resistance to these antibiotics may have already emerged in nature
.
Once antibiotics continue to be abused in hospitals or on farms, creating favorable conditions for the growth of resistant strains, it may be a matter of time before antibiotics eventually fail
.
References: [1] Larsen, J.
, Raisen, CL, Ba, X.
et al.
Emergence of methicillin resistance predates the clinical use of antibiotics.
Nature (2022).
https://doi.
org/10.
1038/s41586- 021-04265-w[2] Superbug MRSA arose in hedgehogs long before clinical use of antibiotics.
Retrieved Jan.
5, 2022 from https:// A type of MRSA evolved in hedgehogs long before the first antibiotics.
Retrieved Jan.
5, 2022 from https:// -antibiotics/
.
But soon, the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria greatly reduced the scope of application of penicillin
.
For more than half a century since then, the race between antibiotics and drug-resistant bacteria has continued: scientists continue to find new antibiotics, but the extensive use of antibiotics has also led to the emergence of new drug-resistant bacteria that can resist more antibiotics, threatening the health of all mankind.
healthy
.
Among them, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), discovered in the 1960s, was the first "superbug" that received widespread attention, and they were resistant to methicillin, the most effective antibiotic at that time
.
At the end of the last century, MRSA was widespread in hospitals and society, and was identified by WHO as one of the major threats to human health
.
Scientists found that MRSA evolved into different strains
.
It is believed that these different strains evolved after the emergence of antibiotics, induced by the misuse of antibiotics
.
However, a recent study published in Nature pointed out that the answer is not complete: As early as 200 years ago, a type of MRSA has emerged through natural evolution in hedgehogs
.
This special "superbug" is called mecC-MRSA, which was first discovered in cows and humans in 2011 by one of the authors of this paper, Professor Mark Holmes of Cambridge University
.
Because these cows were fed a lot of antibiotics, scientists at the time speculated that antibiotic misuse led to the emergence of these resistant bacteria in the cows in the first place
.
However, as research on mecC-MRSA has grown, the origin of this bacterium has become somewhat puzzling
.
In addition to other domesticated animals such as sheep and horses, mecC-MRSA has been found in wild animals such as wild boars, storks, snakes and hedgehogs
.
In particular, the high frequency of this bacterium on hedgehogs made the research team in this paper conjecture: perhaps, the real origin of this drug-resistant bacterium is not farms, but nature
.
To test this conjecture, a team led by Dr Ewan Harrison of the University of Cambridge first collected 276 hedgehogs from nine European countries and New Zealand
.
As a result, mecC-MRSA was detected in hedgehogs in half of the countries, and two-thirds of hedgehogs in the UK carried the strain
.
▲ The conclusion of this study does not mean that we need to fear hedgehogs (Image source: Pia B.
Hansen) Subsequently, the research team further investigated the mecC-MRSA and Staphylococcus aureus carried by these hedgehogs, as well as a large number of other sources of golden yellow Staphylococcus is sequenced, and these analyses can tell us about the evolutionary history of mecC-MRSA
.
By comparing the number of mutations in different strains of MRSA, the research team speculates that mecC-MRSA appeared in hedgehogs about 200 years ago, long before the birth of methicillin (1959)
.
▲ Schematic diagram of the reaction between the fungus T.
erinacei and MRSA in a petri dish (Photo credit: Claire L.
Raisen) Why did natural evolution bring these resistant bacteria to hedgehogs? The answer has to do with a fungus on their skin
.
Studies have shown that this fungus, Trichophyton erinacei, can secrete two β-lactam antibiotics (the familiar penicillins and cephalosporins belong to this category)
.
These naturally secreted antibiotics acted by natural selection, resulting in the coexistence of resistant mecC-MRSA with the fungus on hedgehog skin
.
"This MRSA likely emerged during co-evolutionary competition for hedgehog skin," said Dr Harrison.
"Our results suggest that MRSA was not driven by methicillin use, but rather from a natural Biological process
.
We believe that on the hedgehog's skin, MRSA wins the battle for survival, and then can be directly passed on to livestock and humans
.
"▲The evolutionary history of MRSA (Image source: Reference [1]) "Super bacteria" in Hedgehogs can be found everywhere, but that doesn't mean we're worried
.
After all, this bacterium has been following the hedgehog for two centuries, but the number of people infected with mecC-MRSA is very small, accounting for only 1/200 of all MRSA infections
.
But what we really need to worry about from this study is that resistance may be born for more common causes than we thought
.
It also reminds us that we need to be more cautious about the use of antibiotics because "resistance is everywhere," Dr Harrison said.
"We don't see it in humans, but these resistant bacteria may be hiding somewhere and eventually infecting us.
"
Because the antibiotics we currently use are primarily sourced from nature, the researchers caution that resistance to these antibiotics may have already emerged in nature
.
Once antibiotics continue to be abused in hospitals or on farms, creating favorable conditions for the growth of resistant strains, it may be a matter of time before antibiotics eventually fail
.
References: [1] Larsen, J.
, Raisen, CL, Ba, X.
et al.
Emergence of methicillin resistance predates the clinical use of antibiotics.
Nature (2022).
https://doi.
org/10.
1038/s41586- 021-04265-w[2] Superbug MRSA arose in hedgehogs long before clinical use of antibiotics.
Retrieved Jan.
5, 2022 from https:// A type of MRSA evolved in hedgehogs long before the first antibiotics.
Retrieved Jan.
5, 2022 from https:// -antibiotics/
