Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) threaten the success of modern drugs against multidrug resistant infections. ARGs can be transferred to opportunistic pathogens by horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Many studies have investigated the characteristics of ARGs in various chemical stressors. Studies on the effects of dietary nutrition and dietary patterns on ARGs are rare. The study first demonstrated the effect of calorie restricted (CR) diet on the ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in mouse feces and explored their relationship with gut microbiota and their functions. The results showed that the abundance of the total ARGs in mouse feces of the CR group increased, especially tetracycline ARGs (tetW-01). The abundance of the MLSB ARGs (ermB) decreased evidently in mouse feces of the CR group. In addition, the total abundance of MGEs decreased evidently in the CR group, especially tnpA-03. In the meantime, the abundance of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in mouse feces of the CR group increased remarkably. The Spearman correlation analysis between gut microbiota and ARGs showed that several probiotics were significantly positively correlated with ARGs (tetW-01), which might be the main contribution to the increase in ARGs of the CR group.
Keywords: antibiotic resistance genes; calorie restricted diet; gut microbiota; mobile genetic elements.