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. 2013 Sep;11(3):387-96.
doi: 10.2166/wh.2013.005.

Antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes in Enterococcus isolated from tropical recreational waters

Tasha M Santiago-Rodriguez  1 , Jessica I Rivera, Mariel Coradin, Gary A Toranzos
Affiliations

Antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes in Enterococcus isolated from tropical recreational waters

Tasha M Santiago-Rodriguez et al. J Water Health. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

The prevalence of enterococci harboring tetracycline- and vancomycin-resistance genes, as well as the enterococcal surface protein (esp) has mostly been determined in clinical settings, but their prevalence in tropical recreational waters remains largely unknown. The present study determined the prevalence of tetM (tetracycline-resistance), vanA and vanB (vancomycin-resistance) in the bacterial and viral fractions, enterococci and their induced phages isolated from tropical recreational marine and fresh waters, dry and wet sands. Since lysogenic phages can act as vectors for antibiotic-resistance and virulence factors, the prevalence of the mentioned genes, as well as that of an integrase-encoding gene (int) specific for Enterococcus faecalis phages was determined. Up to 60 and 54% of the bacterial fractions and enterococci, respectively, harbored at least one of the tested genes suggesting that bacteria in tropical environments may be reservoirs of antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes. int was detected in the viral fractions and in one Enterococcus isolate after induction. This study presents the opportunity to determine if the presence of bacteria harboring antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes in tropical recreational waters represents a threat to public health.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sampled sites in this study. Sites included M1(◆), M2 (●), F1 (■) F2 (▲), and in Puerto Rico. Marine water and dry and wet sands were collected from M1 and M2. Fresh water was collected from F1 and F2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Characterization of an induced enterococci phage. Induced phage showed a flexible tail of approximately 180 nm and an icosahedral capsid of 80 nm (Bar=200 nm).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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