The Kolumbo (Santorini) submarine volcanic ecosystem, a natural biotechnology resource in Greece, features a ‘hidden pearl’ locality of added value to global biomedical research. A working geobiology research group from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has found new clues in understanding antibiotic resistance selection of multidrug resistant bacteria.
The research has been published in Scientific Reports-Nature [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-79359-y]. Pangenome analysis has revealed that all identified Gene Clusters of Pseudomonas strains, isolated from the active Kolumbo crater hydrothermal vents, were associated with antimicrobial and multidrug resistance. The study provides
strong evidence that the CO2-rich, acidic volcano crater bottom-seawater, might be a reservoir of microorganisms carrying multidrug efflux-mediated systems and pumps. Extreme metal(loid) enrichment (e.g. Sb, Tl, Ag, As, Hg, Pb, Hg) may have provided selective pressure for the maintenance of resistance mechanisms, under the extreme environmental conditions prevalent on the Kolumbo hydrothermal vents.
The study shows that these genetic characteristics existed long before the advent of antibiotics as human medicines, and underpins the importance of further study of extreme environments (or ecosystems) and their associated physicochemical parameters in the rise of antibiotic resistance.