Fears over emergence of new superbugs as antibiotic-resistant genes found in soil samples from across Scotland

Organisms with genetic defences against our most commonly used medicines are everywhere in Scotland – not good news for human and animal health

Fears have been raised that potentially dangerous new superbugs could emerge as research reveals antibiotic-resistant microbes are “ubiquitous” in the environment across Scotland.

A new study by scientists at the James Hutton Institute (JHI) in Aberdeen, the University of Strathclyde, the Institute of Urban Environment in Xiamen, China, and Newcastle University is the first to carry out national-scale testing of Scotland’s soils for antimicrobial resistance – where tiny organisms like bacteria have evolved to evade drugs such as antibiotics, leading to superbugs like the potentially fatal MRSA.

Genes resistant to common medicines were found in all earth samples analysed, including those from “relatively pristine” environments.

These included microbes with genes able to withstand “last-resort” antibiotics, which are used to treat infections that don’t respond to multiple more widely used treatments.

Researchers have raised concerns over the potential impact on human and animal health.

“Antimicrobial resistance has been in the environment since before antibiotics were developed for humans, but its spread has been exacerbated by human and veterinary use, with a lot of the medicines we take going into the environment via sewage and slurry,” said Dr Eulyn Pagaling, an environmental microbiologist at the JHI.

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“There’s a concern that antimicrobial resistance genes can then spread to other bacteria in the environment.

“These resistant bacteria could then get back into humans and then clinical environments, through contact with the environment, water or food crops, for example, impacting the effectiveness of the antibiotics we rely on day-to-day.”

More research is needed to give a more detailed picture of antimicrobial resistance in Scotland’s soils, according to the team, but the study has created a baseline for future analysis.

Dr Pagaling added: “This means we could now look at how fast antimicrobial resistance is spreading over time and where.”

Dr Eulyn Pagaling is an environmental microbiologist at the James Hutton Institute

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The scientists analysed 200 samples, collected on a 20km grid between 2007 and 2009 as part of the National Soil Inventory of Scotland.

The study, published in the Nature Group journal Communications Earth & Environment, was funded by the UK Research Institute’s Natural Environment Research Council.

JHI academics are also investigating how antimicrobial resistance enters the environment, including through sewage and land use.