Bacterial isolates harboring antibiotics and heavy-metal resistance genes co-existing with mobile genetic elements in natural aquatic water bodies

Abstract

The rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria and contamination of water bodies is a serious issue that demands immense attention of scientific acumen. Here, we examined the pervasiveness of ESBL producing bacteria in Dal Lake and Wular Lake of Kashmir valley, India. Isolates were screened for antibiotic, heavy metal resistant elements, and their coexistence with mobile genetic elements. Out of two hundred one isolates screened, thirty-eight were found positive for ESBL production. Antibiotic profiling of ESBL positive isolates with 16 different drugs representing β-lactam or -non-β-lactam, exhibited multidrug resistance phenotype among 55% isolates. Molecular characterization revealed the occurrence of drug resistance determinants blaTEM, AmpC, qnrS, and heavy metal resistance genes (MRGs) merB , merP, merT, silE, silP, silS, and arsC . Furthermore, mobile genetic elements IntI, SulI, ISecp1, TN3, TN21 were also detected. Conjugation assay confirmed the transfer of different ARGs, HMRGs, and mobile elements in recipient Escherichia coli J53 AZ R strain. Plasmid incompatibility studies showed blaTEM to be associated with Inc groups B/O, HI1, HI2, I1, N, FIA, and FIB. Co-occurrence of bla TEM, HMRGs, and mobile elements from the aquatic milieu of Kashmir, India has not been reported so far. From this study, the detection of the bla TEM gene in the bacteria Bacillus simplex and Brevibacterium frigoritolerans are found for the first time. Considering all the facts it becomes crucial to conduct studies in natural aquatic environments that could help depict the epidemiological situations in which the resistance mechanism might have clinical relevance.

Bacterial Genes Encoding Resistance Against Antibiotics and Metals in Well-Maintained Drinking Water Distribution Systems in Finland

“…Mercury resistance merharboring genes are considered widely distributed in nature (Naguib et al, 2018). It is considered that mer operons tend to co-exist with several other resistance determinants (metals, xenobiotics, and antibiotics) (Tamar et al, 2003;Sultan et al, 2020). Further, it can be complicated to decide if such resistance is due to co-selection (co-resistance, cross-resistance).…”

Current Update on Intrinsic and Acquired Colistin Resistance Mechanisms in Bacteria

“…Colistin has antibacterial activity against members of the Enterobacteriaceae family, including Klebsiella species, E. coli, Citrobacter species, Shigella species, Enterobacter species, and Salmonella species. Colistin also has significant bactericidal activity against prevalent non-fermentative Gram-negative bacteria, including Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, A. baumannii , and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ( 12 , 42 , 43 ). Moreover, some species are resistant naturally to colistin, such as Proteus species, Providencia species, Morganella morganii, Pseudomonas mallei, Chromobacterium species, Burkholderia cepacia, Serratia marcescens, Edwardsiella species, Campylobacter, Vibrio cholera , and Brucella, Legionella .…”

Lentic and effluent water of Delhi-NCR: a reservoir of multidrug-resistant bacteria harbouring blaCTX-M, blaTEM and blaSHV type ESBL genes

“…Our study established the substantial occurrence of ARB in the surface water of Hauz Khas lake and Lodhi garden pond along with effluent water from WWTPs, i.e., Ghazipur slaughterhouse and Jasola from Delhi-NCR India. There are several reports of the prevalence of ARB in many freshwater sources from India (Siddiqui et al 2019;Sultan et al 2020), and this study thoroughly documented the prevalence and diversity of ESBL genes among ESBL producers in lentic and effluent water from Delhi-NCR, India. In both lentic as well as lotic water bodies, antimicrobial resistance has significantly increased due to the heavy load of industrialization, overpopulation and mismanagement of the metropolitan cities (Devarajan et al 2015;Yang et al 2017).…”