Investigation of the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria and their genes in wastewater
Antibiotics are therapeutic agents commonly used in the treatment of infections caused by microorganisms. Due to the increased demand of antibiotics, they have become environmental pollutant to both water and soil. This have caused adverse effects to human, animals, aquatic ecosystem and in the environment in general. These effects includes the development of antibiotic resistant microorganisms, which in turn makes the selection of appropriate antibiotics for particular infections difficult. Therefore, the presence and the prevalence of antibiotics in wastewater were investigated in this study and resistant microorganism and their resistant genes were identified. Gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrum was used to determine the presence of antibiotics in domestic wastewater. Resistance capabilities were detected using the disk diffusion method and resistance isolates were identified using the 16S rDNA sequencing. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers was used to detect resistant genes. Penicillin, ampicillin, meropenem and imipenem traces were determined in domestic wastewater and Bacillus cereus isolates were identified. CTX M, TEM and SHV resistant genes were detected. These genes are commonly found in water and are implicated in numerous diseases such as gastrointestinal infections including diarrhoea, abdominal pains, fever, etc. It is essential to track the pattern of antibiotic resistance because this has a potential in controlling the spread of these genes, thus preventing infections caused resistant microorganisms.
antibiotic resistant, bacteria, wastewater
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