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Application of α-glucosidase activity and drug susceptibility tests to epidemiological studies on the fish pathogen Nocardia seriolae

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  • Aquaculture
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Abstract

This study determined the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTC) and erythromycin (Em), along with the α-glucosidase (α-glu) activities in 110 Nocardia seriolae strains isolated in Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures in 2008–2009. The strains were examined for the presence of the tet(K), tet(L), tet(M), tet(O), tet(S), erm(A), erm(B), mph(A), mef(A), and msr(D) genes. All the α-glu-positive strains (n = 15) were OTC resistant and Em sensitive, with MICs of 32–64 and <0.125 μg/ml, respectively. All the α-glu-negative strains (n = 95) were OTC sensitive, with MICs of 2–4 μg/ml, and most of them (93 of 95) were Em resistant, with MICs of >128 μg/ml. The MICs for Em in the remaining 2 α-glu-negative strains were <0.125 μg/ml. The 15 OTC-resistant strains possessed the tet(K) and/or tet(L) gene(s), and all of the 93 Em-resistant strains possessed both the mef(A) and msr(D) genes. The relationship between α-glu activity and drug sensitivity of the N. seriolae strains may explain the difference in prevalence of each phenotype. Nevertheless, the relationship should be further explored using N. seriolae isolates collected from more prefectures and farms.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partially supported by a grant-in-aid for scientific research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports, Japan (21580229). The first author is grateful to the Ministry of High Education, Egypt, for their financial support, which forms part of the scholarship for his Ph.D.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Agriculture and Engineering, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, 889-2192, Japan

    Tamer Fawzy Ismail

  2. Department of Veterinary Hygiene and Management, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

    Tamer Fawzy Ismail

  3. Kurose Suisan Kaisha Ltd, Kushima, Miyazaki, Japan

    Akira Takeshita

  4. Marine Biological Technology Center, Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd, Saeki, Oita, 876-1204, Japan

    Naoko Umeda

  5. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, 889-2192, Japan

    Toshiaki Itami & Terutoyo Yoshida

Authors
  1. Tamer Fawzy Ismail
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  2. Akira Takeshita
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  3. Naoko Umeda
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  4. Toshiaki Itami
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  5. Terutoyo Yoshida
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Correspondence to Terutoyo Yoshida.

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Ismail, T.F., Takeshita, A., Umeda, N. et al. Application of α-glucosidase activity and drug susceptibility tests to epidemiological studies on the fish pathogen Nocardia seriolae . Fish Sci 77, 113–118 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-010-0302-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-010-0302-y

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