Affiliation:
1. Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Abstract
Campylobacter jejuni
(C.jejuni) is the most common causative agent of bacterial food poisoning worldwide and is known to be genetically highly diverse.
C. jejuni
is increasingly resistant to fluoroquinolone antibiotics, but very few studies have investigated variant-specific patterns of resistance across time. Here we use statistical modelling and clustering techniques to investigate patterns of fluoroquinolone resistance amongst 10,359 UK isolates from human disease sampled over 20 years. We observed six distinct patterns of fluoroquinolone sensitivity/resistance in
C. jejuni
across time, grouping by clonal complex (CC). Some CCs were fully resistant, some shifted from susceptible to resistant following a sigmoidal shape, and some remained susceptible over time. Our findings indicate that the fluoroquinolone resistance patterns of
C. jejuni
are complicated and cannot be analysed as a single species but divided into variant dynamics so that the factors driving resistance can be thoroughly investigated.
Funder
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Food Standards Agency