First Description of Various Bacteria Resistant to Heavy Metals and Antibiotics Isolated from Polluted Sites in Tunisia.
Samar Ben MiloudOlfa DziriSana FerjaniMuntasir Md AliMohamed MysaraIlhem BoutibaRob VAN HoudtChedly ChouchaniPublished in: Polish journal of microbiology (2021)
Environmental bacteria belonging to various families were isolated from polluted water collected from ten different sites in Tunisia. Sites were chosen near industrial and urban areas known for their high degree of pollution. The aim of this study was to investigate cross-resistance between heavy metals (HM), i.e., silver, mercury and copper (Ag, Hg, and Cu), and antibiotics. In an initial screening, 80 isolates were selected on ampicillin, and 39 isolates, retained for further analysis, could grow on a Tris-buffered mineral medium with gluconate as carbon source. Isolates were identified based on their 16S rRNA gene sequence. Results showed the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes, especially all isolates harbored the bla TEM gene. Some of them (15.38%) harbored bla SHV. Moreover, several were even ESBLs and MBLs-producers, which can threaten the human health. On the other hand, 92.30%, 56.41%, and 51.28% of the isolates harbored the heavy metals resistance genes silE, cusA, and merA, respectively. These genes confer resistance to silver, copper, and mercury. A cross-resistance between antibiotics and heavy metals was detected in 97.43% of our isolates.
Keyphrases
- heavy metals
- risk assessment
- human health
- health risk assessment
- health risk
- genetic diversity
- genome wide
- sewage sludge
- antibiotic resistance genes
- genome wide identification
- gold nanoparticles
- microbial community
- risk factors
- gene expression
- wastewater treatment
- escherichia coli
- dna methylation
- multidrug resistant
- bioinformatics analysis