Molecular detection, quantification and characterization of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)- and AmpC-encoding genes in a cucumber agroecosystem
type: CreativeWork
description: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major concern in health care, and has more recently been reported in environmental and agricultural settings. The presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) (including extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae) in fresh produce, is therefore imperative owing to the global push towards healthier diets with a focus on raw food due to its high nutritious value. In this context, bacteria that are present on the surfaces of fresh produce may be transferred to the consumers and potentially serve as an indirect route of human exposure to ARB. If pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are antibiotic resistant (AR) and found on fresh produce that is consumed raw, difficult-to-treat infections may result later. In addition, this may lead to ARB remaining in the consumer’s gut. This may potentially result in transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) to other commensal and human pathogenic bacteria using mobile genetic elements (MGEs) such as plasmids. Treatment of the abovementioned infections with currently available antibiotics may thus become ineffective or fail. When this happens, more expensive medicines will have to be utilised and failure to rapidly recover may have severe impact on health care systems. This therefore calls for improved surveillance of AMR in order to develop mitigation strategies to reduce AMR. Knowledge about AMR in agriculture in general is limited and more so in production systems. Therefore, to address this knowledge gap and explore the AMR status in a model crop system in South Africa, a cucumber production system was studied. The primary focus of the study was on ESBL- and /or AmpC-producing Enterobacteriaceae due to their prevalence in fresh produce systems and the environment as stated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In addition, plasmid-mediated AmpC β-lactamase (pAmpC)-producing Enterobacteriaceae have been rep…
abstract: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major concern in health care, and has more recently been reported in environmental and agricultural settings. The presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) (including extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae) in fresh produce, is therefore imperative owing to the global push towards healthier diets with a focus on raw food due to its high nutritious value. In this context, bacteria that are present on the surfaces of fresh produce may be transferred to the consumers and potentially serve as an indirect route of human exposure to ARB. If pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are antibiotic resistant (AR) and found on fresh produce that is consumed raw, difficult-to-treat infections may result later. In addition, this may lead to ARB remaining in the consumer’s gut. This may potentially result in transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) to other commensal and human pathogenic bacteria using mobile genetic elements (MGEs) such as plasmids. Treatment of the abovementioned infections with currently available antibiotics may thus become ineffective or fail. When this happens, more expensive medicines will have to be utilised and failure to rapidly recover may have severe impact on health care systems. This therefore calls for improved surveillance of AMR in order to develop mitigation strategies to reduce AMR. Knowledge about AMR in agriculture in general is limited and more so in production systems. Therefore, to address this knowledge gap and explore the AMR status in a model crop system in South Africa, a cucumber production system was studied. The primary focus of the study was on ESBL- and /or AmpC-producing Enterobacteriaceae due to their prevalence in fresh produce systems and the environment as stated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In addition, plasmid-mediated AmpC β-lactamase (pAmpC)-producing Enterobacteriaceae have been rep…
language: en_US
keywords: UCTD, Food Safety
date published: 2019
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:52:50Z
provider: University of Pretoria
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Pretoria

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/79137