Identification and antibiotic resistance profiling of bacterial isolates from septicaemic soft-shelled turtles (Pelodiscus sinensis)

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The present study sought to identify pathogens associated with septicaemia in the Chinese softshelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) and to characterise antibiotic resistance in these pathogens. Twenty-three isolates recovered from the livers of diseased soft-shelled turtles were genetically identified as Aeromonas hydrophila (n = 8), A. veronii (n = 3), Citrobacter freundii (n = 4), Morganella morganii (n = 3), Edwardsiella tarda (n = 2), Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica (n = 1), Chryseobacterium sp. (n = 1), and Comamonas sp. (n = 1). Most isolates (n = 21) were resistant to ampicillin whereas a low percentage of isolates was susceptible to aminoglycosides (amikacin, gentamicin, and tobramycin). PCR assays and sequence analysis revealed the presence of the qnrS2 and bla TEM antibiotic resistance genes in all isolates. The bla DHA-1 , bla CTX-M-14 and bla CMY-2 genes were harboured by 17.4% (n = 4), 13.5% (n = 3) and 8.7% (n = 2) of the strains, respectively. One or more tetracycline resistance genes were detected in 60.9% (n = 14) of the isolates. Four isolates (17.4%) harboured single or multiple class 1 integron cassettes. Collectively, a variety of bacterial pathogens were involved in the occurrence of septicaemia in Chinese soft-shelled turtles and most of the isolates had multi-antibiotic resistant phenotypes. To our knowledge, the present report is the first to identify W. chitiniclastica and Comamonas sp. as causes of septicaemia in softshelled turtles and the first to identify Aeromonas spp. with bla and bla DHA-1 resistance genes.

Multidrug resistant Aeromonas spp. isolated from zebrafish (Danio rerio): antibiogram, antimicrobial resistance genes and class 1 integron gene cassettes

“…(Schmidt et al 2001;Deng et al 2015). In a recent study, the prevalence of tetA (54Á55%) was observed in aeromonads isolated from soft-shelled turtles (Pelodiscus sinensis) (Chung et al 2017). The presence of tetA, tetB and tetE genes were frequently reported in Aeromonas isolates (Verner-Jeffreys et al 2009;Dobiasova et al 2014).…”

“…The PCR products were sequenced and examined by the blast option in the GenBank database (Chung et al . ).…”

“…Gene cassettes of IntI1positive isolates were detected by the amplification of 5'-CS and 3'-CS primers. The PCR products were sequenced and examined by the BLAST option in the GenBank database (Chung et al 2017).…”

Incidence of antimicrobial resistance genes and class 1 integron gene cassettes in multidrug-resistant motile Aeromonas sp. isolated from ornamental guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

“…In this study, none of the isolates harboured extended spectrum b-lactamase (ESBL) (blaTEM, blaSHV and blaCTX-M) genes although the isolates were phenotypically resistant to b-lactams. The ESBL genes have been detected from diseased fish, shrimp, turtles and other aquatic animals which indicates the higher prevalence of ESBL genes in clinical strains than environmental samples (Deng et al 2015;Chung et al 2017;Wimalasena et al 2017).…”

Comparative in vitro efficacy of eight essential oils as antibacterial agents against pathogenic bacteria isolated from pet-turtles

“…Aeromonas and Pseudomonas spp. have been isolated from turtles with pneumonia, and many other infections in turtles with bacterial aetiologies have been described (McArthur 2004;Kohler 2006;Hernandez-Divers et al 2009;Chen et al 2013;Chung et al 2017).…”