Bacteria on Hedgehog Developed Antibiotic Resistance in Response to Natural Skin Fungus

A bacteria found in hedgehogs have naturally evolved antibiotic resistance characteristics due to its battle between a skin fungus commonly found in the animal's skin that produces antibiotics.

The international team of scientists said that the bacteria have learned to counter this natural defense mechanism, showing how natural biological processes and antibiotic use drove this superbug outbreak about 200 years ago.

Hedgehog Skin Fungus Vs. Superbug Bacteria

Hedgehogs have a skin fungus that produces antibiotics to kill bacteria, harming them. But both fungi and bacteria have always been in a constant battle for survival. According to Science Daily, the bacteria has evolved into antibiotic-resistant and become Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Around 60% of hedgehogs have this MRSA-type of bacteria called mecC-MRSA. Records show that this has caused 1 in 200 MRSA infections in humans. More so, it reveals that natural biological processes caused the initial emergence of this superbug two centuries ago instead of antibiotic use.

How Far of a Problem is the Antibiotic-Resistance Among Hedgehogs?

Professor Mark Holmes from the University of Cambridge told BBC News that they looked into wildlife and farm animals to know how much of a problem the antibiotic-resistant bacteria is causing. They found that mecC-MRSA is widely distributed in nature in which nearly 50% of hedgehogs have this type of bacteria.

The team of wildlife researchers, biologists, and hedgehog rescuers in Europe focused their investigations on hedgehogs to identify why hedgehogs have these bacteria. Out of the 1,000 samples of bacteria they took from the wildlife across the continent, scientists were able to build a genetic code-based timeline that tells when the resistant strain started to develop in European hedgehogs.

The large international collaboration between institutes and organizations, including the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Serum Statens Institut in Denmark, the University of Cambridge, and the Royal Botanic Gardens who traced the history of Staphylococcus aureus claimed that the bacteria started to develop antibiotic resistance to methicillin in the 1800s or about 200 years ago.

Professor Holmes explained that the skin fungus in hedgehogs started releasing penicillins at that time as a defense mechanism to survive and continue living on the hedgehog. "Where there's a fungus, you have to be resistant to the antibiotics it's producing," he told the news outlet.

Antibiotic Resistance Emerged When Penicillin Was Introduced

Researchers noted that the evolutionary race on the hedgehog's skin showed what Alexander Fleming observed in his petri dish when he first discovered penicillin in 1928. He saw that no bacteria could come near the fungus that contaminated the gel in the dish.

Study co-author Ewan Harrison from the University of Cambridge and a researcher at Wellcome Sanger Institute told Live Science that the study also demonstrates that nature can choose antibiotic resistance and may end up in humans as pathogens. He noted that other MRSA lineages emerged around the time penicillin was introduced, suggesting a selective antibiotic resistance pressure.

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