Antibiotic Resistance and Genetic Variability of spp. from Wastewater Treatment Plant in Kokšov-Bakša (Košice, Slovakia).

This study investigated the genetic variability and antibiotic resistance of community depending on the stage of wastewater treatment in Kokšov-Bakša for the city of Košice (Slovakia). After cultivation, bacterial isolates were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), and their sensitivity to ampicillin, kanamycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin was examined. spp. and spp. dominated bacterial populations in all wastewater samples. We identified 12 different groups based on protein profiling, 14 genotypes by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis and 11 species using 16S rDNA sequence analysis within community, which showed significant variability in their spatial distribution. While population structure changed during the wastewater treatment, the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains did not significantly vary depending on the stage of wastewater treatment. The study highlights the role of a highly genetically diverse community surviving in wastewater treatment plants as an important environmental reservoir assisting in the further dissemination of antibiotic resistance in aquatic systems.