Abstract
Bacterial biofilm production is recognized as a strategy that helps aquatic bacteria in resisting to the presence of several kinds of pollutants, including antibiotics, in the bulk environment. The Pasvik River, located between Norway, Russia and Finland, is a sub-Arctic site polluted by wastes from metallurgic and mining activities. In order to study whether and to what extent bacteria are able to produce biofilms, and to assess whether this physiological characteristic influences their resistance to antibiotics, an investigation was performed on bacteria isolated from water and sediment collected along the Pasvik River course during two surveys (May and July). Bacterial strains were screened for their biofilm production and profiles of susceptibility to antibiotics. Results showed that biofilm formation was a widespread characteristic of the isolates. Most of them were also resistant to several antibiotics, such as ampicillin (100% of the isolates) as well as cefazolin, cefoxitin, ceftriaxone, mezlocillin, nitrofurantoin and sisomicin (90% of the total strains). This study shows a significant association between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance at inner stations both in water and in sediments in May only. This suggests that in Pasvik River colder temperature may stimulate bacterial aggregation into biofilm and simultaneously decrease bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics; since the occurrence of antibiotic resistance has frequently been linked to the presence of pollutants, this result could represent a strategy of bacterial survival under altered environmental conditions.
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Abbreviations
- AK:
-
Amikacin
- AUG:
-
Amoxicillin + clavulanic acid
- AMP:
-
Ampicillin
- AZM:
-
Azithromycin
- ATM:
-
Aztreonam
- IMI:
-
Imipenem
- CAR:
-
Carbenicillin
- KZ:
-
Cefazolin
- CTX:
-
Cefotaxime
- FOX:
-
Cefoxitin
- CAZ:
-
Ceftazidime
- CRO:
-
Ceftriaxone
- CXM:
-
Cefuroxime
- C:
-
Chloramphenicol
- CIN:
-
Cinoxacin
- CIP:
-
Ciprofloxacin
- CS:
-
Colistin sulphate
- FOS:
-
Fosfomycin
- CN:
-
Gentamycin
- LEV:
-
Levofloxacin
- MEZ:
-
Mezlocillin
- NA:
-
Nalidixic acid
- NET:
-
Netilmicin
- F:
-
Nitrofurantoin
- NOR:
-
Norfloxacin
- OFX:
-
Ofloxacin
- PI:
-
Pipemidic acid
- PRL:
-
Piperacillin
- RD:
-
Rifampicin
- SIS:
-
Sisomicin
- SXT:
-
Sulphamethoxazole + trimethoprim
- TE:
-
Tetracycline
- TGC:
-
Tigecycline
- TOB:
-
Tobramycin
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Acknowledgements
This study was performed within the EU FP 7 INTERACT project SpongePOP “Sponge associated culturable microbiome able to degrade persistent organic pollutant along the Pasvik River and the Bokfjorden”. This research, however, did not receive any specific grant from this funding agency. No human subjects or experimental animals were studied in this research. The authors wish to thank Dr. Paul Eric Aspholm and Dr. Lars Ola Nilsson for valuable support in organizing and supporting their research stay at the Bioforsk Station (Svanvik, Norway). They are also grateful to Dr. Maria Papale, Antonella Conte and Marco Graziano (Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Italy) who assisted the sampling activities.
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Laganà, P., Votano, L., Caruso, G. et al. Bacterial isolates from the Arctic region (Pasvik River, Norway): assessment of biofilm production and antibiotic susceptibility profiles. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 1089–1102 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0485-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0485-1