Bacteria with antibiotic resistant genes discovered in Antarctica

Bacteria in Antarctica have been discovered (https://yhoo.it/38srbkg)
with genes that give them natural antibiotic and antimicrobial
resistance and have the potential to spread out of the polar regions,
according to scientists in Chile.
Andres Marcoleta, a researcher from the University of Chile who
headed the study in the Science of the Total Environment journal
in March, said that these "superpowers" which evolved to resist
extreme conditions are contained in mobile DNA fragments that
can easily be transferred to other bacteria.
"We know that the soils of the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the 
polar areas most impacted by melting ice, host a great diversity
of bacteria," Marcoleta said. "And that some of them constitute
a potential source of ancestral genes that confer resistance to
antibiotics."
Scientists from the University of Chile collected several samples
from the Antarctic Peninsula from 2017 to 2019.
"It is worth asking whether climate change could have an impact
on the occurrence of infectious diseases," Marcoleta said.
"In a possible scenario, these genes could leave this reservoir and
promote the emergence and proliferation of infectious diseases."
Researchers found that the Pseudomonas bacteria, one of the
predominant bacteria groups in the Antarctic Peninsula, are not
pathogenic but can be a source of 'resistance genes', which are not
stopped by common disinfectants such as copper, chlorine or
quaternary ammonium.
However, the other kind of bacteria they researched, Polaromonas
bacteria, does have the "potential to inactivate beta-lactam type
antibiotics, which are essential for the treatment of different
infections," said Marcoleta.