Enterobacteria identification and detection of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in a Port Complex

Abstract

The Port Complex of Maranhão (PCM) is the second largest port complex in Brazil, receiving ships with large volumes of ballast water. To evaluate the microbiological quality of its waters, physicochemical parameters (pH and salinity), the number of coliforms (thermotolerants and totals), and the presence of enterobacterias and diarrheagenic Escherichia coli strains were analyzed. In order to identify the presence of E. coli virulence genes target regions of the stx, elt, est, aggR, CVD432, ipaH and eae nucleotide sequences were studied. The presence of totals and thermotolerants coliforms were positive. Analyzing the salinity parameter, a significant increase in total coliforms was observed during the rainy season. We identified the species Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Citrobacter freundii, Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella ozaenae, Morganella morganii, Enterobacter cloacae and Edwardsiella tarda. Out of the 51 E. coli isolated, two were positive for the elt gene and one was positive for the CVD432 sequence, features of enterotoxigenic and enteroaggregative strains, respectively. This study reveals that the PCM is contaminated by enterobacteria and diarrheagenic E.coli thus providing evidence regarding the risk of these bacteria being carried by ships to other countries, and draws attention to the input of fecal bacteria brought by ships in the port waters of Maranhão.

Determination of the Microbial and Chemical Loads in Rivers from the Quito Capital Province of Ecuador (Pichincha)—A Preliminary Analysis of Microbial and Chemical Quality of the Main Rivers

“…Sequencing and comparing these products to the GenBank nucleotide collection using BLASTN did not produce any significant alignments for these pathotypes due to the low size of the consensus sequences and a great number of gaps. However, positive results were obtained by PCR, as in previous published studies [ 8 , 40 , 41 ]. Finally, the EPEC pathotype was not detected in any of the 18 rivers evaluated during this study.…”

Measurement of antibiotic resistance of microbial species in the Karasu River (Turkey) using molecular techniques

“…As a result, researchers emphasized the important role of the environment in the emergence of pathogenic E. coli strains. Costa et al () screened E. coli isolates from port complex water in Brazil for virulence genes, but they did not find eae and stx genes.…”

Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogenic Escherichia Coli Isolated from Rooftop Rainwater-Harvesting Tanks in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

“…Several virulence genes in these E. coli pathotypes are responsible for a wide array of infections such as diarrhoea or haemolytic colitis, neonatal meningitis, nosocomial septicaemia, haemolytic-uraemic syndrome and urinary tract infections [ 9 ]. Current molecular-based techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) allow for the identification of these VGs by amplifying specific target regions [ 10 ]. Virulence genes associated with these pathogenic strains have been isolated in diverse environments in South Africa.…”