Characterization of the bacterioplankton community and its antibiotic resistance genes in the B altic S ea
Author(s) -
Tiirik Kertu,
Nõlvak Hiie,
Oopkaup Kristjan,
Truu Marika,
Preem JensKonrad,
Heinaru Ain,
Truu Jaak
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
biotechnology and applied biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.468
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1470-8744
pISSN - 0885-4513
DOI - 10.1002/bab.1144
Subject(s) - bacterioplankton , biology , microbial population biology , antibiotic resistance , microbiology and biotechnology , abundance (ecology) , antibiotics , relative species abundance , bacteria , ecology , zoology , genetics , nutrient , phytoplankton
Abstract The residues from human environments often contain antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes ( ARG s) that can contaminate natural environments; the clearest consequence of that is the selection of antibiotic‐resistant bacteria. The B altic S ea is the second largest isolated brackish water reservoir on Earth, serving as a drainage area for people in 14 countries, which differ from one another in antibiotic use and sewage treatment policies. The aim of this study was to characterize the bacterioplankton structure and quantify ARG s ( tetA , tetB , tetM , ermB , sul1 , blaSHV , and ampC ) within the bacterioplankton community of the B altic S ea. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was applied to quantify ARG s from four different sampling sites of the B altic S ea over 2 years, and the bacterial communities were profiled sequencing the V 6 region of the 16S r RNA gene on I llumina H i S eq2000. The results revealed that all the resistance genes targeted in the study were detectable from the B altic S ea bacterioplankton. The percentage of tetA , tetB , tetM , ermB , and sul1 genes in the sea bacterial community varied between 0.0077% and 0.1089%, 0.0003% and 0.0019%, 0.0001% and 0.0105%, 0% and 0.0136%, and 0.0001% and 0.0438%, respectively. The most numerous ARG detected was the tetA gene and this gene also had the highest proportion in the whole microbial community. A strong association between bacterioplankton ARG s’ abundance data and community phylogenetic composition was found, implying that the abundance of most of the studied ARG s in the B altic S ea is determined by fluctuations in its bacterial community structure.