Bacterial isolates from the Arctic region (Pasvik River, Norway): assessment of biofilm production and antibiotic susceptibility profiles

Abstract

Bacterial biofilm production is recognized as a strategy that helps aquatic bacteria in resisting to the presence of several kinds of pollutants, including antibiotics, in the bulk environment. The Pasvik River, located between Norway, Russia and Finland, is a sub-Arctic site polluted by wastes from metallurgic and mining activities. In order to study whether and to what extent bacteria are able to produce biofilms, and to assess whether this physiological characteristic influences their resistance to antibiotics, an investigation was performed on bacteria isolated from water and sediment collected along the Pasvik River course during two surveys (May and July). Bacterial strains were screened for their biofilm production and profiles of susceptibility to antibiotics. Results showed that biofilm formation was a widespread characteristic of the isolates. Most of them were also resistant to several antibiotics, such as ampicillin (100% of the isolates) as well as cefazolin, cefoxitin, ceftriaxone, mezlocillin, nitrofurantoin and sisomicin (90% of the total strains). This study shows a significant association between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance at inner stations both in water and in sediments in May only. This suggests that in Pasvik River colder temperature may stimulate bacterial aggregation into biofilm and simultaneously decrease bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics; since the occurrence of antibiotic resistance has frequently been linked to the presence of pollutants, this result could represent a strategy of bacterial survival under altered environmental conditions.

Benthic Microbial Communities in a Seasonally Ice-Covered Sub-Arctic River (Pasvik River, Norway) Are Shaped by Site-Specific Environmental Conditions

“…Other bacteria involved in surface colonization were detected, such as Granulosicoccus , Wynogradskyella , Robiginitomaculum, and Maribacter [ 56 , 57 ]. Altogether, these findings strengthened previous observations on the isolation of a high number of biofilm-forming bacteria from samples collected from the Pasvik River [ 58 ].…”

The COVID-19 pandemic and its implications on the environment

“…bio-based plastics, Patrício-Silva et al, 2020 , 2021 ) or recycling practices related to circular economy approaches ( Adyel, 2020 ). Indeed, COVID-19 pandemic has opened new point of views regarding the management of plastic wastes ( Prata et al, 2020 ; De-la-Torre et al, 2021 ; SanJuan-Reyes et al, 2021 ), also in relation to their role as vectors of contaminants, including absorbed antibiotics that can select antibiotic-resistant and biofilm-producing bacterial strains ( Laganà et al, 2018 , 2019 ; Caruso, 2019 ; Patrício-Silva et al, 2021 ).…”

Microbial Abundance and Enzyme Activity Patterns: Response to Changing Environmental Characteristics along a Transect in Kongsfjorden (Svalbard Islands)

“…Microbial communities, including bacteria and phytoplankton, are potential sentinels of ecosystem changes and anthropogenic disturbances in marine ecosystems [13,14]; they play a key role in relevant processes, such as carbon fluxes and nutrient regeneration, and can also be viewed as amplifiers of global change [15]. Organic matter decomposition, bacterial production, respiration, growth efficiency, and bacterial-grazer trophic interactions are microbially mediated functions [16].…”