The composition of the collection of oral antimicrobial resistance genes is influenced by host genetics, the environment and potentially the genes: found in our mother’s mouth

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Authors
S Sukumar, F Wang, CE Willet, T Chew, TE Hughes, MR Bockmann, Rosemarie Sadsad, FE Martin, HW Lydecker, GV Brown, KM Davis, QM Bui, E Martinez and CJ Adler

The human microbiome includes reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) which are part of a network of resistomes (collections of ARGs) that exist in diverse microbiomes. Surveillance of these resistomes is necessary to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a worldwide health and economic issue. Characterising the AMR potential of the human oral microbiome is important, as it comprises the second most significant microbial presence within the body and is a known site for acquisition and transfer of resistance via horizontal gene transfer. Furthermore, understanding the development of paedatric resistome increases our understanding of the functional components of the oral microbiome and the possible role of the resistome in health and disease in later life. We characterised the development of the paediatric oral resistome using short read sequence based metagenomics in 221 twin children who had oral plaque biofilm samples taken at three time points, when they were edentulous (no teeth, n=139), had a deciduous/primary dentition (baby teeth only, n=180) and a mixed dentition (baby and adult teeth, n=213). Additionally, 30 maternal samples taken at T1 were sequenced and analysed. From 532 paediatric oral metagenomes, we identified 309 antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), which significantly clustered by age, with the influence of host genetics on antimicrobial resistance increasing over time. Comparison of the maternal/twin triads confirmed that the maternal resistome is a plausible source of ARGs for their offspring as there was shared ARG membership across all time points. The composition of the paediatric resistome was significantly associated with maternal illness during pregnancy or post birth across time points. Our study provides initial insight into what influences the development of the oral resistome and reiterates the focus on maternal microbiome health as it facilitates the development of a healthy infant oral microbiome, including the resistome.