Occurrence of extended‐spectrum β‐lactamases‐producing Escherichia coli isolates over gradient pollution in an urban tropical estuary

Abstract

Bacterial resistance to antimicrobials is a global public health problem that surpasses the human context and can be increased by pollution. However, the lack of systematic monitoring of resistance in some aquatic matrices, such as tropical estuaries, makes it unknown whether its occurrence is associated with anthropogenic pollution in these environments. Therefore, we investigated the occurrence of extended‐spectrum beta‐lactamases (ESBLs) producing Escherichia coli as a resistance indicator for 12 consecutive months at three representative points of a pollution gradient in Guanabara Bay (GB), Brazil. Sixty‐six E. coli strains were selected from 72 samples of GB waters in the presence of ceftriaxone (8 μg mL −1 ) and identified by MALDI‐TOF MS. Of the 66, 55 (83.3%) strains were ESBL producers. They carried beta‐lactamase/ESBL genes, with the predominance of bla CTX‐M (54, 98.2%), especially the bla CTX‐M‐1,2 allele (49.1%). These strains were detected frequently (81.8%) from the point with the highest pollution levels. Furthermore, the marker for Class 1 integron, intI1 gene, was detected in 54.5% of ESBL producers. These data suggest an association between antimicrobial‐resistant E. coli and sewage pollution in aquatic environments raising concerns about the possible risks of human exposure to these waters and fish consumption.

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