Isolation of Drug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa from a Species of Endangered Rodent in Japan

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen widely distributed in the environment, but its occurrence in wildlife remains poorly understood. We isolated P. aeruginosa from the lung of a Ryukyu Islands tree rat (Diplothrix legata) that was rescued near the Yanbaru Forest, a World Natural Heritage Site. The drug resistance tests revealed that the isolate was resistant to three types of fluoroquinolones, and the genome analysis showed the isolate carried a total of 61 drug resistance genes. This study is the first to isolate drug-resistant P. aeruginosa from wildlife in Japan, indicating a need for AMR surveillance of the environment by drug-resistant bacteria.