Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparison of the antimicrobial tolerance of oxytetracycline-resistant heterotrophic bacteria isolated from hospital sewage and freshwater fishfarm water in Belgium
AU - Huys, Geert
AU - Gevers, Dirk
AU - Temmerman, Robin
AU - Cnockaert, Margo
AU - Denys, Rik
AU - Rhodes, Glenn
AU - Pickup, Roger
AU - McGann, Patrick
AU - Hiney, Maura
AU - Smith, Peter
AU - Swings, Jean
PY - 2001/12/31
Y1 - 2001/12/31
N2 - The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between antimicrobial tolerance and taxonomic diversity among the culturable oxytetracycline-resistant (Otr) heterotrophic bacterial population in two Belgian aquatic sites receiving wastewater either from human medicine or from aquaculture. The study of Otr heterotrophs and mesophilic Aeromonas spp. allowed comparison of tolerance data at the intergenus as well as at the intragenus level. In total, 354 independently obtained Otr isolates were subjected to antimicrobial tolerance testing and identified by GLC analysis of their cellular fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), by API 20E profiling and/or by Fluorescent Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (FAFLP) DNA fingerprinting. In general, Otr hospital heterotrophs displayed a higher frequency (84%) of ampicillin (Amp) tolerance compared to the Otr heterotrophs from the freshwater fishfarm site (22%). FAME results indicated that this effect was linked to the predominance of intrinsically ampicillin-resistant Otr Aeromonas strains over representatives of Acinetobacter and Escherichia coli within the hospital strain set. Among the Otr mesophilic Aeromonas strain set, the global tolerance profiles of the two sites only differed in a higher number of kanamycin (Kan) -tolerant strains (43%) for hospital aeromonads in comparison with the fishfarm aeromonads (8%). To some extent, this finding was correlated with the specific presence of Aeromonas caviae DNA hybridisation group (HG) 4. Collectively, these results suggest that the profiles for Amp and Kan tolerance observed in both sites arose from taxonomic differences in the culturable Otr bacterial population at the generic or subgeneric level. In addition, our identification data also revealed that Enterobacter sp., Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and A. veronii biovar sobria HG8 may be considered potential indicator organisms to assess microbial tolerance in various compartments of the aquatic environment.
AB - The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between antimicrobial tolerance and taxonomic diversity among the culturable oxytetracycline-resistant (Otr) heterotrophic bacterial population in two Belgian aquatic sites receiving wastewater either from human medicine or from aquaculture. The study of Otr heterotrophs and mesophilic Aeromonas spp. allowed comparison of tolerance data at the intergenus as well as at the intragenus level. In total, 354 independently obtained Otr isolates were subjected to antimicrobial tolerance testing and identified by GLC analysis of their cellular fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), by API 20E profiling and/or by Fluorescent Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (FAFLP) DNA fingerprinting. In general, Otr hospital heterotrophs displayed a higher frequency (84%) of ampicillin (Amp) tolerance compared to the Otr heterotrophs from the freshwater fishfarm site (22%). FAME results indicated that this effect was linked to the predominance of intrinsically ampicillin-resistant Otr Aeromonas strains over representatives of Acinetobacter and Escherichia coli within the hospital strain set. Among the Otr mesophilic Aeromonas strain set, the global tolerance profiles of the two sites only differed in a higher number of kanamycin (Kan) -tolerant strains (43%) for hospital aeromonads in comparison with the fishfarm aeromonads (8%). To some extent, this finding was correlated with the specific presence of Aeromonas caviae DNA hybridisation group (HG) 4. Collectively, these results suggest that the profiles for Amp and Kan tolerance observed in both sites arose from taxonomic differences in the culturable Otr bacterial population at the generic or subgeneric level. In addition, our identification data also revealed that Enterobacter sp., Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and A. veronii biovar sobria HG8 may be considered potential indicator organisms to assess microbial tolerance in various compartments of the aquatic environment.
KW - Freshwater fishfarm
KW - Hospital sewage
KW - Oxytetracycline resistance
U2 - 10.1078/0723-2020-00008
DO - 10.1078/0723-2020-00008
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 11403391
AN - SCOPUS:0035036860
VL - 24
SP - 122
EP - 130
JO - Systematic and Applied Microbiology
JF - Systematic and Applied Microbiology
SN - 0723-2020
IS - 1
ER -