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The prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria varies considerably by world region. International travel has been identified as an important factor in spreading resistance among regions. Until now, investigations into this issue have been based on culture, polymerase chain reaction, or both, focusing on a few bacterial species. But because bacteria can exchange resistance genes across species, the entire gut microbiome should be considered a reservoir for resistance genes.
Explorative shotgun metagenomic sequencing is a new technology that allows, in a single assay, quantitative analysis of virtually all known antibiotic-resistance genes present in sufficient abundance in a sample, regardless of whether or not they occur in cultivable speci…