Selection of aquatic microbiota exposed to the herbicides flufenacet and metazachlor.

Herbicides are important, ubiquitous environmental contaminants, but little is known about their interaction with bacterial aquatic communities. Here, we sampled a protected natural freshwater habitat and characterised its microbiome in interaction with herbicides. We evolved the freshwater microbiomes in a microcosm assay of exposure (28 days) to flufenacet and metazachlor at environmental concentrations of 0.5, 5 and 50 µg L-1 . Inhibitory effects of herbicides were exemplarily assessed in cultured bacteria from the same pond (Pseudomonas alcaligenes, Paenibacillus amylolyticus and Microbacterium hominis). Findings were compared to long-term concentrations as provided by local authorities. Here, environmental concentrations reached up to 11 µg L-1 (flufenacet) and 76 µg L-1 (metazachlor). Bacteria were inhibited at minimum inhibitory concentrations far above these values; however, concentrations of 50 µg L-1 of flufenacet resulted in measurable growth impairment. While most herbicide-exposed microcosm assays did not differ from controls, Acidobacteria were selected at high environmental concentrations of herbicides. Alpha-diversity (e.g., taxonomic richness on phylum level) was reduced when aquatic microbiomes were exposed to 50 µg metazachlor or flufenacet. One environmental strain of P. alcaligenes showed resistance to high concentrations of flufenacet (50 g L-1 ). In total, this study reveals that ecologic imbalance due to herbicide use significantly impacts aquatic microbiomes.

Unraveling the Role of Vegetables in Spreading Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria: A Need for Quantitative Risk Assessment.

In recent years, vegetables gain consumer attraction due to their reputation of being healthy in combination with low energy density. However, since fresh produce is often eaten raw, it may also be a source for foodborne illness. The presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria might pose a particular risk to the consumer. Therefore, this review aims to present the current state of knowledge concerning the exposure of humans to antibiotic-resistant bacteria via food of plant origin for quantitative risk assessment purposes. The review provides a critical overview of available information on hazard identification and characterization, exposure assessment, and risk prevention with special respect to potential sources of contamination and infection chains. Several comprehensive studies are accessible regarding major antimicrobial-resistant foodborne pathogens (e.g., Salmonella spp., Listeria spp., Bacillus cereus, Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli) and other bacteria (e.g., further Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas spp., Gram-positive cocci). These studies revealed vegetables to be a potential-although rare-vector for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae, mcr1-positive E. coli, colistin- and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, linezolid-resistant enterococci and staphylococci, and vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Even if this provides first clues for assessing the risk related to vegetable-borne antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, the literature research reveals important knowledge gaps affecting almost every part of risk assessment and management. Especially, the need for (comparable) quantitative data as well as data on possible contamination sources other than irrigation water, organic fertilizer, and soil becomes obvious. Most crucially, dose-response studies would be needed to convert a theoretical "risk" (e.g., related to antimicrobial-resistant commensals and opportunistic pathogens) into a quantitative risk estimate.

Comparative analysis of the bacterial flora of vegetables collected directly from farms and from supermarkets in Germany.

A total of 1,001 vegetables were collected from 13 farms and 11 supermarkets in Bavaria, Germany; 722 samples were positive for coliforms (mostly Enterobacter cloacae; n = 176). Escherichia coli were detected in 34, Pseudomonas spp. in 439, Salmonella spp. in 1, Enterococcus spp. in 682, and Listeria spp. in 11 samples. Prevalence of all investigated genera tended to be lower in samples collected at the supermarket. However, prevalence of Pseudomonas fluorescens was higher in supermarket samples. Cereals/bulbous vegetables were less contaminated than root vegetables/salads. Fruit vegetables seem to be often subsequently contaminated in the retail market. Compared to foods of animal origin, prevalence of pathogenic bacteria is low. Particularly, in 1,001 investigated vegetables, only four L. monocytogenes and one Salmonella enterica have been found. Almost all of the detected microorganisms are reported to be opportunistic pathogens, if only in rare cases. Therefore, fresh produce should be washed or peeled before it is eaten raw.

First Molecular Characterization of Siphoviridae-Like Bacteriophages Infecting Staphylococcus hyicus in a Case of Exudative Epidermitis.

Exudative epidermitis (EE), also known as greasy pig disease, is one of the most frequent skin diseases affecting piglets. Zoonotic infections in human occur. EE is primarily caused by virulent strains of Staphylococcus (S.) hyicus. Generally, antibiotic treatment of this pathogen is prone to decreasing success, due to the incremental development of multiple resistances of bacteria against antibiotics. Once approved, bacteriophages might offer interesting alternatives for environmental sanitation or individualized treatment, subject to the absence of virulence and antimicrobial resistance genes. However, genetic characterization of bacteriophages for S. hyicus has, so far, been missing. Therefore, we investigated a piglet raising farm with a stock problem due to EE. We isolated eleven phages from the environment and wash water of piglets diagnosed with the causative agent of EE, i.e., S. hyicus. The phages were morphologically characterized by electron microscopy, where they appeared Siphoviridae-like. The genomes of two phages were sequenced on a MiSeq instrument (Illumina), resulting in the identification of a new virulent phage, PITT-1 (PMBT8), and a temperate phage, PITT-5 (PMBT9). Sequencing of three host bacteria (S. hyicus) from one single farm revealed the presence of two different strains with genes coding for two different exfoliative toxin genes, i.e., exhA (2 strains) and exhC (1 strain). The exhC-positive S. hyicus strain was only weakly lysed by most lytic phages. The occurrence of different virulent S. hyicus strains in the same outbreak limits the prospects for successful phage treatment and argues for the simultaneous use of multiple and different phages attacking the same host.

Selection and persistence of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli including extended-spectrum ß-lactamase producers in different poultry flocks on one chicken farm.

Escherichia coli isolates (n=438) from six different broiler chicken flocks (all in, all out) with known consumption of antimicrobials were investigated for their antimicrobial resistance and the prevalence of extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL) phenotypes. E. coli were isolated from chicken at the third and fifth week of age and tested for antimicrobial resistance during the course of fattening. Resistance to sulfamethoxazole+trimethoprim, which was used in four flocks within the first days of life, decreased significantly in all six flocks between the third and fifth week of broiler chicken's life (mean 65.9% vs. 54.3%). By contrast, resistance to spectinomycin increased significantly in all six flocks within the same period (mean 36.1% vs. 57.0%); doxycycline resistance increased significantly in five of six flocks (mean 19.2% vs. 41.7%), although both substances were not used for treatment. Of the sulfonamide resistance genes sul1, sul2, and sul3, sul2 was most frequently found (up to 60%). The prevalence of sul2 increased significantly between weeks 3 and 5, if the chicken were treated with sulfamethoxazole + trimethoprim in the first days of life. If sulfamethoxazole + trimethoprim was not used, then the prevalence of sul2 decreased significantly in the same period. The prevalence of sul1+qacEΔ1 (classical class 1 integrons) was significantly higher in E. coli from sulfamethoxazole + trimethoprim-treated flocks (9.63%), compared to untreated flocks (2.92%). The detection of phenotypes that potentially indicate plasmid-borne AmpC-ß-lactamases was inversely associated with sulfamethoxazole + trimethoprim treatment. ESBL phenotypes were found without selective enrichment in four of six flocks. Of all isolated E. coli, 1.8% (n=8) had an ESBL phenotype. ESBL strains differed in their accompanying resistances and/or enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequences. In conclusion, clonal dissemination seems not to be a major cause of ESBL detection on a chicken farm with all-in all-out production mode.

Diversity of antimicrobial resistance genes and class-1-integrons in phylogenetically related porcine and human Escherichia coli.

Antimicrobial resistant bacteria and resistance genes can be transferred between the microbial flora of humans and animals. To assess the dimension of this risk, we compared the phylogenetic ancestry of human and porcine tetracycline-insusceptible Escherichia coli. Further, we compared the resistance gene profiles (tetA/tetB/tetC/tetD/tetM/sulI/sulII/sulIII/strA-strB/addA) and the prevalence of class-1-integrons in isolates of identical and different phylogroups by endpoint-PCR. This is the first genotypic comparison of antimicrobial resistance in E. coli from humans and animals which allows for the phylogenetic ancestry of the isolates. E. coli isolates from diseased humans belonged regularly to phylogroup B2 (24.3%) or D (30.9%) and were rarely not typeable (7.2%); by contrast, isolates from pig manure were regularly not typeable (46.7%) and rarely grouped into phylogroup B2 (2.2%) or D (2.9%). Class-1-integrons were detected in 40.8% of clinical (n=152), in 9.5% of community-derived (n=21) and in 10.9% of porcine (n=137) E. coli. The prevalence of sulI (42.4%/16.0%) in phylogroup A and of tetA, tetB and sulII in phylogroup B1 differed significantly between human clinical and porcine strains. Human clinical isolates (except B2-isolates) carried significantly more different resistance genes per strain, compared to porcine or community-derived isolates. ERIC-PCR-analysis of B2- (and D-) isolates with identical genetic profiles revealed that only a minor part was clonally related. The dominant resistance gene profiles differed depending on phylogroup and source. Human and porcine isolates do not exceedingly share their genes, and might rapidly adapt their resistance gene equipment to meet the requirements of a new environment. The study underlines that resistance gene transfer between human and porcine isolates is limited, even in phylogenetically related isolates.

Antibiotic resistance in bacteria isolated from vegetables with regards to the marketing stage (farm vs. supermarket).

The aim of this study was to elucidate whether and to what extent fresh produce from Germany plays a role as a carrier and reservoir of antibiotic resistant bacteria. For this purpose, 1001 vegetables (fruit, root, bulbous vegetables, salads and cereals) were collected from 13 farms and 11 supermarkets in Germany and examined bacteriologically. Phenotypic resistance of Enterobacter cloacae (n=172); Enterobacter gergoviae (n=92); Pantoea agglomerans (n=96); Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=295); Pseudomonas putida (n=106) and Enterococcus faecalis (n=100) against up to 30 antibiotics was determined by using the microdilution method. Resistance to ß-lactams was most frequently expressed by P. agglomerans and E. gergoviae against cefaclor (41% and 29%). Relatively high resistance rates were also observed for doxycycline (23%), erythromycin (21%) and rifampicin (65%) in E. faecalis, for spectinomycin (28%) and mezlocillin (12%) in E. cloacae, as well as for streptomycin (19%) in P. putida. In P. aeruginosa, relatively low resistance rates were observed for the aminoglycosides amikacin, apramicin, gentamicin, neomycin, netilmicin and tobramycin (<4%); 11% was resistant to streptomycin. No glycopeptide-resistant enterococci were observed. Resistance rates of bacteria isolated from farm samples were higher than those of the retail markets whenever significant differences were observed. This suggests that expressing resistance is at the expense of bacterial viability, since vegetables purchased directly at the farm are probably fresher than at the supermarket, and they have not been exposed to stress factors. However, this should not keep the customer from buying directly at the farm, since the overall resistance rates were not higher than observed in bacteria from human or animal origin. Instead, peeling or washing vegetables before eating them raw is highly recommended, since it reduces not only the risk of contact with pathogens, but also that of ingesting and spreading antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Quantity of the tetracycline resistance gene tet(M) differs substantially between meat at slaughterhouses and at retail.

UNLABELLED: Concentrations of the tetracycline resistance gene tet(M) per square centimeter were assessed in meat from the slaughterhouse (n = 100) and from retail (n = 100) by real-time quantitative PCR. The study revealed a substantial contamination of retail meat with the tetracycline resistance gene tet(M), with a mean of 4.34 log copies per cm² fasces in chicken and 5.58 log copies per cm² fasces in pork. Quantitative resistance gene analysis provides an interesting tool for risk assessment and is becoming increasingly important. For both chicken and pork, tet(M) concentrations were significantly higher in meat at retail, compared to meat at slaughter. Cultural investigations revealed substantial differences in the prevalence of listeria and enterococci, and of E. coli and coliforms, between meat at slaughter (n = 500) and at retail (n = 500). However, the differences in the prevalence of 2 investigated groups of potential tet(M)-carriers (enterococci, listeria) could not sufficiently explain the differences in tet(M) concentrations, since increasing concentrations of tet(M) were accompanied by decreasing prevalences of these potential tet(M)-carriers. The percentage of tetracycline susceptible indicator bacteria (E. faecalis, E. coli) did not differ between meat at slaughter and meat at retail. Higher concentrations of tet(M) at retail might correlate with the proliferation of other genera than enterococci and listeria, but there is also a reason to discuss whether secondary contaminants might carry tet(M) more often than the primary flora of meat. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: We successfully applied the direct quantitative monitoring of resistance genes in meat, which generally might aid as a useful and rapid additional tool for risk assessment. We know that bacteria provide a large pool of resistance genes, which are widely shared between each other-the larger the pool is, the more genes might be exchanged. Thus, in terms of resistance gene monitoring, we should sometimes overcome the restricted view on single bacteria and look at the gene pool, instead.