Quantifying conjugation rates in clinical and environmental matrices: a systematic review to inform risk assessment

IntroductionAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a major public health concern and challenge. The transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARG) between bacteria and the movement of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) between human, environmental, and animal reservoirs allows AMR to spread an...

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Main Authors: Hunter Quon, Lucia Ramirez, Blakeley Bagwell, Jennifer Moralez, Richard J. Sheppard, Allison J. Lopatkin, Kerry A. Hamilton
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Microbiomes
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frmbi.2024.1490240/full
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author Hunter Quon
Hunter Quon
Lucia Ramirez
Blakeley Bagwell
Jennifer Moralez
Richard J. Sheppard
Allison J. Lopatkin
Allison J. Lopatkin
Kerry A. Hamilton
Kerry A. Hamilton
author_facet Hunter Quon
Hunter Quon
Lucia Ramirez
Blakeley Bagwell
Jennifer Moralez
Richard J. Sheppard
Allison J. Lopatkin
Allison J. Lopatkin
Kerry A. Hamilton
Kerry A. Hamilton
author_sort Hunter Quon
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a major public health concern and challenge. The transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARG) between bacteria and the movement of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) between human, environmental, and animal reservoirs allows AMR to spread and drive its persistence. Modeling efforts are useful for providing understanding of fate and transport, dynamics, or probabilistic risk, but lack estimates of bacterial conjugation parameters to be used within these frameworks.MethodsA systematic literature review was conducted to summarize measured rates of conjugation for AMR and other resistances across a variety of settings, experimental media, and donor sources. Results: Across the 113 studies, reported conjugation frequencies and rates were examined in environmental, clinical, and animal/agricultural settings. The findings spanned over 12 orders of magnitude. From all studies, a subset of 25 were able to be analyzed for time-dependent rate estimation, which is most useful in modeling approaches. The highest rates were found in samples originating from wastewater sources or transferred in wastewater matrices, pointing to the significance and role of anthropogenic impacts on the environment in dissemination of AMR.DiscussionThe results allowed us to identify knowledge gaps in measuring conjugation rates in key environmental exposure areas, such as biofilms, and in reporting experimental outputs for understanding cell growth and conjugation dynamics, such as donor, recipient and transconjugant densities over time.
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spelling doaj-art-45b1406cd82841bab15558d81a3b3d9f2025-08-20T02:46:37ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiomes2813-43382025-01-01310.3389/frmbi.2024.14902401490240Quantifying conjugation rates in clinical and environmental matrices: a systematic review to inform risk assessmentHunter Quon0Hunter Quon1Lucia Ramirez2Blakeley Bagwell3Jennifer Moralez4Richard J. Sheppard5Allison J. Lopatkin6Allison J. Lopatkin7Kerry A. Hamilton8Kerry A. Hamilton9School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United StatesThe Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United StatesSchool of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United StatesDepartment of Biology, Barnard College, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Biology, Barnard College, New York, NY, United StatesMedical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis & World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling, Jameel Institute, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United KingdomDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United StatesDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United StatesSchool of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United StatesThe Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United StatesIntroductionAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a major public health concern and challenge. The transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARG) between bacteria and the movement of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) between human, environmental, and animal reservoirs allows AMR to spread and drive its persistence. Modeling efforts are useful for providing understanding of fate and transport, dynamics, or probabilistic risk, but lack estimates of bacterial conjugation parameters to be used within these frameworks.MethodsA systematic literature review was conducted to summarize measured rates of conjugation for AMR and other resistances across a variety of settings, experimental media, and donor sources. Results: Across the 113 studies, reported conjugation frequencies and rates were examined in environmental, clinical, and animal/agricultural settings. The findings spanned over 12 orders of magnitude. From all studies, a subset of 25 were able to be analyzed for time-dependent rate estimation, which is most useful in modeling approaches. The highest rates were found in samples originating from wastewater sources or transferred in wastewater matrices, pointing to the significance and role of anthropogenic impacts on the environment in dissemination of AMR.DiscussionThe results allowed us to identify knowledge gaps in measuring conjugation rates in key environmental exposure areas, such as biofilms, and in reporting experimental outputs for understanding cell growth and conjugation dynamics, such as donor, recipient and transconjugant densities over time.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frmbi.2024.1490240/fullhorizontal gene transferconjugationantimicrobial resistancerisk assessmentwastewater
spellingShingle Hunter Quon
Hunter Quon
Lucia Ramirez
Blakeley Bagwell
Jennifer Moralez
Richard J. Sheppard
Allison J. Lopatkin
Allison J. Lopatkin
Kerry A. Hamilton
Kerry A. Hamilton
Quantifying conjugation rates in clinical and environmental matrices: a systematic review to inform risk assessment
Frontiers in Microbiomes
horizontal gene transfer
conjugation
antimicrobial resistance
risk assessment
wastewater
title Quantifying conjugation rates in clinical and environmental matrices: a systematic review to inform risk assessment
title_full Quantifying conjugation rates in clinical and environmental matrices: a systematic review to inform risk assessment
title_fullStr Quantifying conjugation rates in clinical and environmental matrices: a systematic review to inform risk assessment
title_full_unstemmed Quantifying conjugation rates in clinical and environmental matrices: a systematic review to inform risk assessment
title_short Quantifying conjugation rates in clinical and environmental matrices: a systematic review to inform risk assessment
title_sort quantifying conjugation rates in clinical and environmental matrices a systematic review to inform risk assessment
topic horizontal gene transfer
conjugation
antimicrobial resistance
risk assessment
wastewater
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frmbi.2024.1490240/full
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