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Antimicrobial resistance and virulence factor gene profiles of Enterococcus spp. isolates from wild Arctocephalus australis (South American fur seal) and Arctocephalus tropicalis (Subantarctic fur seal)

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Abstract

Enterococci are natural inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tracts in humans and animals. Epidemiological data suggest that enterococci are important reservoirs of antimicrobial resistant genes that may be transmitted from other bacterial species The aim of this study was to investigate the species composition, antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes in enterococci recovered from fecal samples of wild Arctocephalus australis and A. tropicalis found dead along the South Coast of Brazil. From a total of 43 wild fur seals, eleven were selected for this study. Phenotypic and genotypic characterizations were used to classify Enterococcus species. Strains were tested for susceptibility to 10 antibiotics, presence of ace, gelE, asa, cylA, tet(L), tet(M) and erm(B) genes by PCR, and genetic variability using RAPD-PCR. Among the 50 enterococci isolated, 40 % were Enterococcus faecalis, 40 % E. hirae, 12 % E. casseliflavus and 8 % other enterococcal species. Resistance profiles were observed to erythromycin, nitrofurantoin, tetracycline, norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin. The prevalence of virulence genes was ace (68 %), gelE (54 %), asa (22 %) and cylA (4 %). In erythromycin- and tetracycline strains, erm(B) and tet(M) were detected, respectively. The RAPD-PCR demonstrated a close phylogenetic relationship between the enterococci isolated from A. australis and A. tropicalis. In conclusion, different enterococcus species showing antimicrobial resistance and virulence determinates were isolated from fecal samples of fur seals. Antibiotic resistant strains in these animals could be related within food chain and aquatic pollutants or linked to environmental resistome, and demonstrates the potential importance of these animals as reservoirs and disseminators of such determinants in marine environmental.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the government agencies Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Brasil (CNPq—#444335/2014-5, #300912/2012-9, #302421/2012-2 and #303251/2014-0) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) of the Brazilian government. We are grateful to Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Aquáticos do Rio Grande do Sul and all staff from Center for Coastal Studies, Limnology and Marine (Ceclimar) da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul by help in the data collection.

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  1. Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Sarmento Leite 500, Room 158, ZIP. 90050-170, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Naiara Aguiar Santestevan, Dejoara de Angelis Zvoboda, Leonardo Almansa Cardoso, Aline Weber Medeiros, Ana Claudia Franco & Ana Paula Guedes Frazzon

  2. Gram Positive Coccus Laboratory, Federal University of Health Sciences Porto Alegre, Av. Sarmento Leite 245, Room 204, ZIP. 90050-170, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Janira Prichula, Rebeca Inhoque Pereira, Guilherme Raffo Wachholz, Tiane Martin de Moura & Pedro Alves d’Azevedo

  3. Center for Coastal Studies, Limnology and Marine (Ceclimar), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Tramandaí, 976, ZIP. 95625-000, Imbé, RS, Brazil

    Derek Blaese de Amorin & Maurício Tavares

  4. Department of Food Science, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500 – Campus do Vale – Prédio 443.212, ZIP. 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Jeverson Frazzon

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  1. Naiara Aguiar Santestevan
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  2. Dejoara de Angelis Zvoboda
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Santestevan, N.A., de Angelis Zvoboda, D., Prichula, J. et al. Antimicrobial resistance and virulence factor gene profiles of Enterococcus spp. isolates from wild Arctocephalus australis (South American fur seal) and Arctocephalus tropicalis (Subantarctic fur seal). World J Microbiol Biotechnol 31, 1935–1946 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-015-1938-7

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