Molecular Characterization and Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern of Escherichia coli Recovered from Wastewater Treatment Plants in Eastern Cape South Africa
1
SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitory Center, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa
2
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Research Group (AEMREG), Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Fort Hare, Private Bag X1314, Alice 5700, South Africa
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(6), 1237; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15061237
Received: 19 April 2018 / Revised: 1 June 2018 / Accepted: 9 June 2018 / Published: 12 June 2018
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are designed to eliminate organic matter and pathogens but most WWTPs discharges antimicrobial resistance pathogens into aquatic milieu. The study aimed to examine the antibiotics resistant patterns and the presence of some resistance genes among E. coli isolates from WWTPs effluents. Water were collected from WWTPs final effluents, filtered through nitrocellulose membrane and the filter papers were placed on chromogenic agar plates, incubated for 24 h at 37 °C. Presumptive E. coli isolates (173) were obtained from the culture method. From the presumptive E. coli isolates screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), 111 isolates were positive and the positive isolates were further screened for six diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes (EPEC, ETEC, EHEC, DAEC, EIEC, and EAEC) and from the pathotypes screened, nine isolates harboured daaE gene. The phenotypic susceptibility patterns of the 111 isolates to 12 antibiotics were determined by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion technique. All the isolates were resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin. From the resistance genes screened, 31 isolates harboured mcr-1 gene and nine isolates harboured ermA gene. The study reveals that water samples recovered from the final effluents of WWTPs may likely be one of the major sources of antibiotic-resistant in Escherichia coli.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
Escherichia coli; diarrheagenic; susceptibility; WWTPs
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Igwaran, A.; Iweriebor, B.C.; Okoh, A.I. Molecular Characterization and Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern of Escherichia coli Recovered from Wastewater Treatment Plants in Eastern Cape South Africa. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1237.
Show more citation formats
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
