Unravelling the microbial fitness and the acquired co-resistances towards environmental extremes of vancomycin resistant Enterococci

Abstract

Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus (E.) faecium (VRE) is a healthcare associated nosocomial pathogen causing serious diseases in immunocompromised patients. As previously shown, immune functions of astronauts during spaceflight are also dysregulated and, moreover, the treatment options are limited during long-term missions. Thus, the question arises how tolerant are VRE against desiccation and which decontamination methods are efficient against opportunistic bacteria. Which is highly relevant for spaceflight and clinical environments. Therefore, the microbial fitness of clinical isolates after four months of desiccation was determined, which were recovering to 100% metabolic activity again. As a potential decontamination method against VRE, the antimicrobial effect of copper coatings was tested. Here copper coatings showed different efficiency against VRE depending on their resistance to copper and vancomycin. Moreover, five E. faecium isolates were sequenced with Illumina for further genomic analysis and antibiotic resistance genes in addition to the characterization of a co-resistant isolate to vancomycin and copper. To prevent VRE infections and guarantee health of the crewmembers for future long-term space missions, it is essential to improve the understanding about the tenacity of VRE and gain knowledge about the adaptations to environmental stressors. Therefore, analysis of multi-stress factors of VRE and research of co-resistance towards environmental extremes and space conditions will be implemented to improve the understanding how to fight drug resistant bacteria.