Escherichia coli strains from ostriches and their sensitivity to antimicrobial substances

Abstract

Ostriches are bred especially for their high-quality meat. There is a lack of knowledge concerning the ostrich's microflora. Escherichia coli is a commensal microorganism of the poultry intestine, ostriches included. However, some strains may become pathogenic. This study was therefore undertaken to detect coliform bacteria in ostrich faeces and to test their antibiotic profile and sensitivity to enterocins. Faeces (n=54, 18 mixture samples from 3 different age groups of 140 ostriches) were sampled to isolate coliform bacteria. The counts of coliform bacteria varied from 5.69 ± 2.4 log10 CFU/g to 5.73 ± 2.4 CFU/g. Pure colonies were identified using MALDI-TOF MS mass spectrometry and confirmed by phenotypization. Seventy-one strains were allotted to the species E. coli. Sixty-four of those 71 strains caused hemolysis. They were mostly polyresistant to antibiotics. Thirty-two polyresistant strains of E. coli were sensitive to enterocins. These strains were most sensitive to Ent 9296 (26 strains). Moreover, Ent EM41 produced by E. faecium EM41 (isolated from ostrich faeces) inhibited the growth of 20 strains, reaching activity of 100 AU/ml. Our results indicate the possibility of enterocins being used for prevention/reduction of coliforms. Of course, in vivo studies are also being processed.

Relation to enterocins and herbal extracts of fecal hemolytic Escherichia coli from domestic ducks detected with MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

“…The significant increase of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and residua in meat products has evoked and has supported the research on new natural originated antimicrobials (enterocins, herbal extracts, etc.). Antimicrobial activity of enterocins has been confirmed in our previous in vitro and in vivo studies (Lauková et al, 1999, 2015; Ščerbová and Lauková 2016a,b). Moreover, tested trains were more susceptible to enterocins and herbal extracts than to antibiotics.…”