A group of researchers from the state University of Chile discovered recently in Antarctica “hyperresistant” bacteria that could pose a risk to global health, he warned. the study center this Wednesday.
The finding, which was published in the prestigious journal Science of the Total Environment, is “of special relevance in the context of climate change, the melting of the poles and the crisis of resistance to antibiotics”, he explained. the university.
The discovered bacteria have genes that are resistant to multiple antibiotics and other antimicrobial substances, such as copper, chlorine or the already known quaternary ammonium, and that can easily be transferred to other microorganisms, such as pathogenic bacteria. genes (causing diseases), according to research.
“The idea that these genes could eventually reach bacteria that cause infections in humans or other animals, giving them greater resistance capabilities, does not seem to be unreasonable,” he stated. Andrés Marcoleta, research leader.
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These bacteria and their genes, moreover, “are not associated with contamination or human intervention, but rather are part of the microbial communities typical of these Antarctic soils”, he added. the expert.
Among these bacteria are Pseudomonas, which have a high resistance to extreme conditions and toxic substances and some of them cause serious diseases such as cystic fibrosis, or Polaromonas, which have been previously reported in urbanized polar environments, such as the meter in Siberia.
“This reaffirms that contact between bacteria typical of polar environments and pathogenic bacteria is already under way. This is happening, which could lead to the exchange of genetic information between them”, he warned. Marcoleta.
The research also reveals that climate change can, in some way, have an impact on the occurrence of infectious diseases, since the melting exposes microorganisms or genetic information that remained. frozen or buried for millions of years to increased contact with humans, animals and other organisms, he said. the university.
“Now we know that a great diversity of bacteria lives in the soils of the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the polar areas most impacted by melting, and that part Some of them constitute a potential source of ancestral genes that confer resistance to antibiotics”, he added. the expert.
The discovery, therefore, would allow the scientific world “to anticipate the emergence of possible new resistance mechanisms in infectious diseases and guide the design of new antibiotics”; , he concluded the study center.