scholarly journals Differential Bacterial Predation by Free-Living Amoebae May Result in Blooms of Legionella in Drinking Water Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Shaheen ◽  
Nicholas J. Ashbolt

Intracellular growth of pathogenic Legionella in free-living amoebae (FLA) results in the critical concentrations that are problematic in engineered water systems (EWS). However, being amoeba-resistant bacteria (ARB), how Legionella spp. becomes internalized within FLA is still poorly understood. Using fluorescent microscopy, we investigated in real-time the preferential feeding behavior of three water-related FLA species, Willaertia magna, Acanthamoeba polyphaga, and Vermamoeba vermiformis regarding Legionella pneumophila and two Escherichia coli strains. Although all the studied FLA species supported intracellular growth of L. pneumophila, they avoided this bacterium to a certain degree in the presence of E. coli and mostly fed on it when the preferred bacterial food-sources were limited. Moreover, once L. pneumophila were intracellular, it inhibited digestion of co-occurring E. coli within the same trophozoites. Altogether, based on FLA–bacteria interactions and the shifts in microbial population dynamics, we propose that FLA’s feeding preference leads to an initial growth of FLA and depletion of prey bacteria, thus increases the relative abundance of Legionella and creates a “forced-feeding” condition facilitating the internalization of Legionella into FLA to initiate the cycles of intracellular multiplication. These findings imply that monitoring of FLA levels in EWS could be useful in predicting possible imminent high occurrence of Legionella.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clémence Loiseau ◽  
Emilie Portier ◽  
Marie-Hélène Corre ◽  
Margot Schlusselhuber ◽  
Ségolène Depayras ◽  
...  

Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires’ disease, is a waterborne bacterium mainly found in man-made water systems in close association with free-living amoebae and multispecies biofilms. Pseudomonas strains, originating from various environments including freshwater systems or isolated from hospitalized patients, were tested for their antagonistic activity towards L. pneumophila. A high amount of tested strains was thus found to be active. This antibacterial activity was correlated to the presence of tensioactive agents in culture supernatants. As Pseudomonas strains were known to produce biosurfactants, these compounds were specifically extracted and purified from active strains and further characterized using reverse-phase HPLC and mass spectrometry methods. Finally, all biosurfactants tested (lipopeptides and rhamnolipids) were found active and this activity was shown to be higher towards Legionella strains compared to various other bacteria. Therefore, described biosurfactants are potent anti-Legionella agents that could be used in the water treatment industry although tests are needed to evaluate how effective they would be under field conditions.


Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Issam Hasni ◽  
Antoine Jarry ◽  
Benjamin Quelard ◽  
Antoine Carlino ◽  
Jean-Baptiste Eberst ◽  
...  

Legionella pneumophila is a facultative intracellular pathogen found in aquatic environments as planktonic cells within biofilms and as intracellular parasites of free-living amoebae such as Acanthamoeba castellanii. This pathogen bypasses the elimination mechanism to replicate within amoebae; however, not all amoeba species support the growth of L. pneumophila. Willaertia magna C2c Maky, a non-pathogenic amoeba, was previously demonstrated to possess the ability to eliminate the L. pneumophila strain Paris. Here, we study the intracellular behaviour of three L. pneumophila strains (Paris, Philadelphia, and Lens) within W. magna C2c Maky and compare this strain to A. castellanii and W. magna Z503, which are used as controls. We observe the intracellular growth of strain Lens within W. magna Z503 and A. castellanii at 22 °C and 37 °C. Strain Paris grows within A. castellanii at any temperature, while it only grows at 22 °C within W. magna Z503. Strain Philadelphia proliferates only within A. castellanii at 37 °C. Within W. magna C2c Maky, none of the three legionella strains exhibit intracellular growth. Additionally, the ability of W. magna C2c Maky to decrease the number of internalized L. pneumophila is confirmed. These results support the idea that W. magna C2c Maky possesses unique behaviour in regard to L. pneumophila strains.


2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (20) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shewli Mukerji ◽  
Samantha Gunasekera ◽  
James Nicholas Dunlop ◽  
Marc Stegger ◽  
David Jordan ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Globally, gulls have been associated with carriage of high levels of Escherichia coli strains resistant to critically important antimicrobials (CIAs), a major concern, as these antimicrobials are the sole alternative or one among only a few alternatives available to treat severe life-threatening infections in humans. Previous studies of Australian silver gulls demonstrated high levels of resistance to CIAs, particularly fluoroquinolone and extended-spectrum cephalosporins, among E. coli strains (carriage at 24% and 22%, respectively). This study aimed to identify and characterize strains from four distinct bird species inhabiting a common coastal environment, determine the frequency of carriage of CIA-resistant E. coli strains, and examine if these resistant clones and their resistance-encoding mobile genetic elements (MGEs) could be transmitted between species. CIA-resistant E. coli was detected in silver gulls (53%), little penguins (11%), and feral pigeons (10%), but not in bridled terns. In total, 37 different sequence types (STs) were identified, including clinically significant human-associated lineages, such as ST131, ST95, ST648, ST69, ST540, ST93, ST450, and ST10. Five main mobile genetic elements associated with blaCTX-M-positive E. coli strains isolated from three bird species were detected. Examination of clonal lineages and MGEs provided indirect evidence of transfer of resistance between bird species. The carriage of CIA-resistant E. coli by gulls and pigeons with proximity to humans, and in some instances food-producing animals, increases the likelihood of further bidirectional dissemination. IMPORTANCE It has been shown that 20% of Australian silver gulls carry drug-resistant Escherichia coli strains of anthropogenic origin associated with severe diseases, such as sepsis and urinary tract infections, in humans. To further characterize the dynamics of drug-resistant E. coli in wildlife populations, we investigated the carriage of critically important antimicrobial (CIA) drug-resistant E. coli in four bird species in a common environment. Our results indicated that gulls, pigeons, and penguins carried drug-resistant E. coli strains, and analysis of mobile genetic elements associated with resistance genes indicated interspecies resistance transfer. Terns, representing a bird species that forages on natural food sources at sea and distant from humans, did not test positive for drug-resistant E. coli. This study demonstrates carriage of CIA-resistant bacteria in multiple bird species living in areas commonly inhabited by humans and provides further evidence for a leapfrog effect of resistance in wildlife, facilitated by feeding habits.


Nematology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tafesse Kefyalew Estifanos ◽  
Walter Traunspurger ◽  
Lars Peters

Laboratory experiments with stable isotopes (13C and 15N) were conducted to determine the importance of bacteria and algae as food sources for free-living nematodes. All tested bacterivorous nematodes (Caenorhabditis elegans, Acrobeloides tricornis, Poikilolaimus sp. and Panagrolaimus sp.) were found to be depleted in δ13C (on average by −1.71 ± 0.56‰) and enriched in δ15N (on average by 3.17 ± 1.27‰) relative to their bacterial diets of Escherichia coli and Matsuebacter sp. The nematode species showed considerable differences in their stable isotope composition with respect to food sources. Moreover, they differed significantly in δ13C and δ15N values when placed on the same bacterial diet of E. coli, consistent with differences in their trophic shifts. Conversely, no differences in δ13C values were observed among nematode species placed on the same Matsuebacter sp. diet. In mixed food sources of E. coli and Matsuebacter sp., E. coli contributed 71% of the carbon to C. elegans and Matsuebacter sp. more than 90% of the carbon to A. tricornis. An enrichment experiment based on 13C-enriched NaH13CO3, 13C6-glucose and 15N-enriched Na15NO3 tracers in a freshwater periphytic community showed the importance of micro-algae and diatoms over heterotrophic bacteria as the main food sources of free-living periphytic nematodes. In this respect, direct grazing may predominate, possibly together with the use of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from diatoms. In general, the use of stable isotopes to study nematode feeding ecology can be useful to investigate directly the type of ingested food item(s), different bacteria and algae, and the contribution to nematode diet, in addition to the conventional feeding type scheme.


2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (16) ◽  
pp. 5262-5271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronit Reich-Slotky ◽  
Christina A. Kabbash ◽  
Phyllis Della-Latta ◽  
John S. Blanchard ◽  
Steven J. Feinmark ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We report here that gemfibrozil (GFZ) inhibits axenic and intracellular growth of Legionella pneumophila and of 27 strains of wild-type and multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in bacteriological medium and in human and mouse macrophages, respectively. At a concentration of 0.4 mM, GFZ completely inhibited L. pneumophila fatty acid synthesis, while at 0.12 mM it promoted cytoplasmic accumulation of polyhydroxybutyrate. To assess the mechanism(s) of these effects, we cloned an L. pneumophila FabI enoyl reductase homolog that complemented for growth an Escherichia coli strain carrying a temperature-sensitive enoyl reductase and rendered the complemented E. coli strain sensitive to GFZ at the nonpermissive temperature. GFZ noncompetitively inhibited this L. pneumophila FabI homolog, as well as M. tuberculosis InhA and E. coli FabI.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (o3) ◽  
Author(s):  
¹Hind H. Muunim ◽  
Muna T Al-Mossawei ◽  
Mais Emad Ahmed

Biofilms formation by pathogens microbial Control considered important in medical research because it is the hazarded virulence factor leading to becoming difficult to treat because of its high resistance to antimicrobials. Glycopeptide antibiotic a (Vancomycin) and the commercial bacteriocin (Nisin A) were used to comparative with purification bacteriocin (MRSAcin) against MRSA biofilm. One hundred food samples were collected from Baghdad markets from July 2016 to September 2016, including (cheese, yogurt, raw milk, fried meat, grilled meat, and beef burger). All samples were cultures; S. aureus was confirmation by macroscopic culture and microscopic examination, in addition to biochemical tests. Methicillin resistance S. asureus (MRSA) were identification by antibiotic sensitivity test (AST), Vitek 2 system. The result shown the 60(60%) isolate were identified as S. aureus and 45(75%) gave positive result as MRSA isolate, M13 isolate was chosen as MRSA isolates highest biofilm formation for treatment with MRSAcin, Nisin A(bacteriocin) and Vancomycin (antibiotic) to compared the more antimicrobial have bacteriocidal effect. The sensitivity test uses to determine the effect of MRSAcin, Nisin A, and Vancomycin MIC on MRSA planktonic cell by (WDA). The new study shows the impacts of new kind Pure Bacteriocins (MRSAcin) from methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) highly effects then (Vancomycin and Nisin A) at different concentration. In a current study aimed to suggest new Bacteriocin is potent highly for the treatment of resistant bacteria biofilm infections in food preservatives


2019 ◽  
pp. 48-54
Author(s):  
Duy Binh Nguyen ◽  
Trung Tien Phan ◽  
Trong Hanh Hoang ◽  
Van Tuan Mai ◽  
Xuan Chuong Tran

Sepsis is a serious bacterial infection. The main treatment is using antibiotics. However, the rate of antibiotic resistance is very high and this resistance is related to the outcome of treatment. Objectives: To evaluate the situation of antibiotic resistance of some isolated bacteria in sepsis patients treated at Hue Central Hospital; to evaluate the relationship of antibiotic resistance to the treatment results in patients with sepsis. Subjects and methods: prospective study of 60 sepsis patients diagnosed according to the criteria of the 3rd International Consensus-Sepsis 3 and its susceptibility patterns from April 2017 to August 2018. Results and Conclusions: The current agents of sepsis are mainly S. suis, Burkhoderiae spp. and E. coli. E. coli is resistant to cephalosporins 3rd, 4th generation and quinolone group is over 75%; resistance to imipenem 11.1%; the ESBL rate is 60%. S. suis resistant to ampicilline 11.1%; no resistance has been recorded to ceftriaxone and vancomycine. Resistance of Burkholderiae spp. to cefepime and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid was 42.9% and 55.6%, resistant to imipenem and meropenem is 20%, resistance to ceftazidime was not recorded. The deaths were mostly dued to E. coli and K. pneumoniae. The mortality for patients infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria are higher than for sensitive groups. Key words: Sepsis, bacterial infection, antibiotics


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 466
Author(s):  
Herbert Galler ◽  
Josefa Luxner ◽  
Christian Petternel ◽  
Franz F. Reinthaler ◽  
Juliana Habib ◽  
...  

In recent years, antibiotic-resistant bacteria with an impact on human health, such as extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-containing Enterobacteriaceae, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE), have become more common in food. This is due to the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry, which leads to the promotion of antibiotic resistance and thus also makes food a source of such resistant bacteria. Most studies dealing with this issue usually focus on the animals or processed food products to examine the antibiotic resistant bacteria. This study investigated the intestine as another main habitat besides the skin for multiresistant bacteria. For this purpose, faeces samples were taken directly from the intestines of swine (n = 71) and broiler (n = 100) during the slaughter process and analysed. All samples were from animals fed in Austria and slaughtered in Austrian slaughterhouses for food production. The samples were examined for the presence of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae, MRSA, MRCoNS and VRE. The resistance genes of the isolated bacteria were detected and sequenced by PCR. Phenotypic ESBL-producing Escherichia coli could be isolated in 10% of broiler casings (10 out of 100) and 43.6% of swine casings (31 out of 71). In line with previous studies, the results of this study showed that CTX-M-1 was the dominant ESBL produced by E. coli from swine (n = 25, 83.3%) and SHV-12 from broilers (n = 13, 81.3%). Overall, the frequency of positive samples with multidrug-resistant bacteria was lower than in most comparable studies focusing on meat products.


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 850
Author(s):  
Shobha Giri ◽  
Vaishnavi Kudva ◽  
Kalidas Shetty ◽  
Veena Shetty

As the global urban populations increase with rapid migration from rural areas, ready-to-eat (RTE) street foods are posing food safety challenges where street foods are prepared with less structured food safety guidelines in small and roadside outlets. The increased presence of extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL) producing bacteria in street foods is a significant risk for human health because of its epidemiological significance. Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae have become important and dangerous foodborne pathogens globally for their relevance to antibiotic resistance. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the potential burden of antibiotic-resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae contaminating RTE street foods and to assess the microbiological quality of foods in a typical emerging and growing urban suburb of India where RTE street foods are rapidly establishing with public health implications. A total of 100 RTE food samples were collected of which, 22.88% were E. coli and 27.12% K. pneumoniae. The prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae was 25.42%, isolated mostly from chutneys, salads, paani puri, and chicken. Antimicrobial resistance was observed towards cefepime (72.9%), imipenem (55.9%), cefotaxime (52.5%), and meropenem (16.9%) with 86.44% of the isolates with MAR index above 0.22. Among β-lactamase encoding genes, blaTEM (40.68%) was the most prevalent followed by blaCTX (32.20%) and blaSHV (10.17%). blaNDM gene was detected in 20.34% of the isolates. This study indicated that contaminated RTE street foods present health risks to consumers and there is a high potential of transferring multi-drug-resistant bacteria from foods to humans and from person to person as pathogens or as commensal residents of the human gut leading to challenges for subsequent therapeutic treatments.


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