Ferheen Ifra, Spurio Roberto, Mancini Laura, Marcheggiani Stefania
School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy.
Department of Environment and Health, Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
J Glob Antimicrob Resist. 2023 Mar;32:104-107. doi: 10.1016/j.jgar.2023.01.008. Epub 2023 Feb 9.
Around the globe, escalation in rare opportunistic microbial infections is alarming as they are heading steadily towards 'superbug' status. In aquatic ecosystems, plastic fosters multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria and plays a significant role in trafficking antibiotic-resistant genes. In this study, we focused on a multidrug-resistant bacterial strain isolated from microbial communities found on plastic substrates of a volcanic lake in central Italy.
Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing strains were isolated from both raw water and plastic substrates for a comparative investigation using microbiological and molecular methods, and antibiotic susceptibility profiling was performed against a panel of ten antibiotics.
Molecular identification and Basic Local Alignment Search Tool analysis confirmed an almost identical sequencing pattern of two isolated strains and their homology with Morganella morganii. Antibiotic susceptibility tests revealed their resistance to almost all tested antibiotics. Class 1 integron-associated gene (intI1) and seven antibiotic resistance genes were detected in both strains, confirming their superbug status.
To our knowledge, this is the first study on the characterization of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing M. morganii isolated from the biofilm of plastic substrates, depicting the potential toxicity of plastic in harbouring and dispersing virulent, multidrug-resistant, opportunistic human pathogens.
在全球范围内，罕见的机会性微生物感染不断升级，令人担忧，因为它们正稳步迈向“超级细菌”状态。在水生生态系统中，塑料助长了耐多药病原菌，并在传播抗生素抗性基因方面发挥着重要作用。在本研究中，我们聚焦于从意大利中部一个火山湖塑料基质上的微生物群落中分离出的一株耐多药细菌菌株。
使用微生物学和分子方法，从原水和塑料基质中分离出产超广谱β-内酰胺酶的菌株进行比较研究，并针对一组十种抗生素进行抗生素敏感性分析。
分子鉴定和基本局部比对搜索工具分析证实了两种分离菌株几乎相同的测序模式及其与摩根氏摩根菌的同源性。抗生素敏感性测试显示它们对几乎所有测试抗生素均具有抗性。在两种菌株中均检测到1类整合子相关基因（intI1）和七个抗生素抗性基因，证实了它们的超级细菌状态。
据我们所知，这是首次对从塑料基质生物膜中分离出的产超广谱β-内酰胺酶的摩根氏摩根菌进行特性描述的研究，揭示了塑料在藏匿和传播有毒、耐多药、机会性人类病原体方面的潜在毒性。
