Author: Glibota, Nicolas; Grande Burgos, Ma Jose; Galvez, Antonio; Ortega, Elena
Description: BACKGROUND: Heavy metal pollution may act as persistent selective pressure that favors the spread of antimicrobial resistance in natural environments. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify metal-tolerant bacteria from soils in olive tree fields routinely treated with copper-derived compounds and to evaluate the tolerance of bacterial strains to other metals and their resistance to clinically relevant antibiotics.
RESULTS: Five hundred and ninety-five bacterial isolates from 45 olive tree agricultural fields were studied. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) > 16 mmol L-1 were detected for copper (57% of isolates), zinc (37%) and lead (62%), while only 3% had MICs > 12 mmol L-1 for nickel. Ninety-six metal-tolerant strains were selected for identification and antibiotic resistance determination. Most isolates belonged to the genera Pseudomonas (37%), Bacillus (23%) and Chryseobacterium (20%), while 6% were identified as Variovorax, 4% as Stenotrophomonas and 2% as Serratia or Burkholderia. Highest copper tolerance was detected among Pseudomonas. Over 75% of the strains with high copper tolerance were also resistant to vancomycin, 50% to ampicillin and 40% to erythromycin or trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole.
CONCLUSION: Bacteria from olive soils are tolerant to metals, mainly copper, but also zinc and lead, as well as resistant to clinically important antibiotics, which could be a troublesome issue in clinical settings.
Subject headings: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bacteria; Copper; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Lead; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Nickel; Olea; Soil; Soil Microbiology; Zinc; Antibiotic resistance; Copper tolerance; Metal tolerance; Olive tree fields; Cu
Publication year: 2019
Journal or book title: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
Volume: 99
Issue: 10
Pages: 4677-4685
Find the full text: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jsfa.9708
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Serial number: 3605