A review of the paper: Ndi, O.L.,Barton, M.D., (2011), Incidence of class 1 integron and other antibiotic resistance determinants in Aeromonas spp . from rainbow trout farms in Australia, Journal of Fish Diseases, 34, 589-599
Aeromonas sp. are a gram negative group of bacteria that are pathogenic across a large range of hosts including many in fish disease and humans. The treatment and prevention of many diseases have been implemented extensively using antimicrobial agents, which has resulted in an increase in resistant strains. It is thought that this resistance may come from integrons, which are unusual DNA elements. The objective of this research was to identify some resistant determinants associated with Aeromonas sp. including those linked with integrons.
48 Aeromonas sp. were isolated from healthy fish and 42 from sediments from 9 freshwater trout farms. These strains were identified using a commercial MICROBACT 24E ID kits and also using a PCR for 16s ribosomal RNA gene. The detection of integrons and tetracycline resistance genes was also carried out PCR and other genes were detected using a range of primers. These genes were then sequenced.
The results from the identification showed discrepancies between the different methods however overall 5 species were identified with both methods showing A. hydrophila as the most common. 31% of the strains were positive for class 1 integrons. Other resistant genes were also found that code for specific enzymes involved in resistance. The final conclusion of this paper was that there were antibiotic-resistant species of Aeromonas sp. in Australian fish farms. This would have implications for human health when fish are consumed and if farm run-off gets into the environment.
3 comments:
Hi Natasha
Hows the glutathione results going? Were they what you expected?
I remember learning about integrons last year but my memory isnt the best. Just to recap, am I right in saying that integrons are a mobile set of genes that move from cell to cell, often taking antibiotic genes with them?
Hi Lee,
Almost right but not quite! Sorry I must not have explained it properly. Integrons themselves are not mobile, but they are often associated with other genes that are. They code for some enzymes and provide a variety of antibiotic resistance. Hope that helps :)
Yeah Im still trying to figure my results out but dont think any of them are significant. Hope yours are going ok!
Thanks Natasha. So antibiotic genes can spread through a population of cells. I remember now, we had a practical with Colin last year on antibiotics and we also looked at antibiotic resistance.
I have some significant results on the glutathione but are the oppisite of what I expected. Gives something to talk about in the discussion anyway. good luck with it all :-)
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