ARTICLE Received 5 Jul 2016 | Accepted 1 Nov 2016 | Published 8 Dec 2016 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13803 OPEN A diverse intrinsic antibiotic resistome from a cave bacterium Andrew C. Pawlowski1, Wenliang Wang1, Kalinka Koteva1, Hazel A. Barton2, Andrew G. McArthur1 & Gerard D. Wright1 Antibiotic resistance is ancient and widespread in environmental bacteria. These are there- fore reservoirs of resistance elements and reflective of the natural history of antibiotics and resistance. In a previous study, we discovered that multi-drug resistance is common in bacteria isolated from Lechuguilla Cave, an underground ecosystem that has been isolated from the surface for over 4 Myr. Here we use whole-genome sequencing, functional genomics and biochemical assays to reveal the intrinsic resistome of Paenibacillus sp. LC231, a cave bacterial isolate that is resistant to most clinically used antibiotics. We systematically link resistance phenotype to genotype and in doing so, identify 18 chromosomal resistance elements, including five determinants without characterized homologues and three mechanisms not previously shown to be involved in antibiotic resistance. A resistome comparison across related surface Paenibacillus affirms the conservation of resistance over millions of years and establishes the longevity of these genes in this genus. 1 Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research and the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1. 2 Department of Biology, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325, USA. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to G.D.W. (email:
[email protected]). NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | 7:13803 | DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13803 | www.nature.com/naturecommunications 1 ARTICLE NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13803 nderstanding the evolution and origins of antibiotic rhizophila (formerly identified as Micrococcus luteus) resistance genes is vital to predicting, preventing and (Supplementary Tables 1 and 2).