The role of wildlife in the dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment is of increasing concern. We investigated the occurrence, richness and transmissibility potential of ARGs detected in the faeces of three mesocarnivore species: the coyote (Canis latrans), raccoon (Procyon lotor) and Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), and of stray and owned dogs in suburban Chicago, IL, USA. Rectal swabs were collected from live-captured coyotes (n = 32), raccoons (n = 31) and Virginia opossums (n = 22). Fresh faecal samples were collected from locally owned (n = 13) and stray dogs (n = 18) and from the live-captured mesocarnivores, when available. Faecal samples and rectal swabs were enriched to select for Enterobacteriaceae and pooled by mesocarnivore species and dog type (owned or stray). Pooled enriched samples were then analysed for the presence of ARGs using shotgun sequencing. The three mesocarnivore and stray dog samples had twice as many unique ARGs compared to the owned dog sample, which was partly driven by a greater richness of beta-lactamase genes (genes conferring resistance to penicillins and cephalosporins). Raccoon and stray dog samples had the most ARGs in common, suggesting possible exposure to similar environmental sources of ARGs. In addition to identifying clinically relevant ARGs (e.g. blaCMY and qnrB), some ARGs were linked to the class 1 integrase gene, intI1, which may indicate anthropogenic origin. Findings from this pilot investigation suggest that the microbial communities of suburban mesocarnivores and stray dogs can host ARGs that can confer resistance to several antimicrobials used in human and veterinary medicine.

中文翻译：

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郊区食肉动物和当地拥有的流浪狗携带的肠杆菌科细菌中的抗菌素耐药基因的特征。

野生生物在环境中传播抗微生物细菌和抗微生物基因（ARG）中的作用日益受到关注。我们调查了在三种中叶食肉动物的粪便中检测到的ARGs的发生，丰富性和传播潜力：土狼（Canis latrans），浣熊（Procyon lotor）和弗吉尼亚负鼠（Didelphis virginiana），以及芝加哥郊区的流浪狗和自家狗，美国伊利诺伊州。从捕获的活土狼（n = 32），浣熊（n = 31）和弗吉尼亚负鼠（n = 22）中收集直肠拭子。从当地所有（n = 13）和流浪狗（n = 18）以及从活体捕获的中生食肉动物（如果有）中采集新鲜的粪便样品。浓缩粪便样品和直肠拭子以选择肠杆菌科，并按中食肉动物种类和狗类型（自有或流浪）合并。然后使用shot弹枪测序分析合并的富集样品中ARG的存在。与拥有的狗样本相比，这三个中食肉动物和流浪狗样本具有两倍的独特ARG，这部分是由β-内酰胺酶基因（赋予对青霉素和头孢菌素的抗性的基因）更丰富所驱动的。浣熊和流浪狗样本的ARGs最多，这表明它们可能会暴露于类似环境的ARGs中。除了鉴定临床相关的ARG（例如blaCMY和qnrB）外，一些ARG还与1类整合酶基因intI1相关，这可能表明是人为起源。