Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Nydia J.

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    Multiple antibiotic resistance of Enterococcus spp. in waters and sediments of Barceloneta–Manatí, Puerto Rico
    (2010) Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Nydia J.; Zaidi, Baqar R.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Otero, Ernesto; Alston, Dallas E.; Chiou, Bor- Sen; Aponte, Nilda E.; Department of Marine Sciences; Ríos Velázquez, Carlos
    Recently the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment has increased, creating a worldwide human health problem. Antibiotic resistance of Enterococcus spp. in coastal areas of Mayagüez, Guayanilla, Guánica, and Barceloneta, Puerto Rico was studied. The results indicated that Barceloneta was the area with highest numbers of antibiotic resistant microorganisms, so a detailed study of this area was undertaken. Samples were taken from Barceloneta-Manatí area from river, estuarine, and coastal waters, and from sediments. The samples were evaluated for the ability of Enterococcus species to resist penicillin, tetracycline, and vancomycin antibiotics. The results showed that during the dry period, the highest percentage of Enterococcus species were resistant to both penicillin and tetracycline. These results can be linked with the uses of these antibiotics in cattle for prophylaxis and treatment of infections in the dairy industry found in this area. Although the coastal area has the lowest numbers of Enterococcus that are multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR), it has the highest diversity of species. The distribution of species in Barceloneta zone indicated the predominance of E. faecalis, E. hirae, and E. seriolicida. E. faecalis was also the species with highest antibiotic resistance followed by E. hirae, E. durans, and E. faecium. The change in the population of Barceloneta coastal sediments after treatment of samples with antibiotics was evaluated with the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). A decline in the microbial community of Barceloneta-Manatí sediments was observed in the samples exposed to antibiotics. Libraries of 16S rRNA were constructed to characterize multiple antibiotic resistant strains. In Barceloneta samples treated with multiple antibiotics, Proteobacteria dominates, which indicated resistance to multiple antibiotics. The resistance of Proteobacteria to multiple antibiotics and survival of multiple antibiotic-resistant Enterococcus in the coastal environment of Barceloneta may indicate that transfer of antibiotic resistance is possible from terrestrial to marine microorganisms.