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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in Klebsiella spp. from urban aquatic environments: a multi-country genomic perspective.

INTRODUCTION: Antibiotic resistance, particularly carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP), poses significant clinical and environmental threats, especially in urban aquatic ecosystems and hospital wastewaters. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to analyze the epidemiological and genomic features of CRKP isolates in urban aquatic environments and evaluate their public health and environmental impacts. METHODS AND RESULTS: Water samples were collected from 113 rivers and 3 hospitals in China, Sri Lanka, and Nepal to isolate carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella spp. isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, whole-genome sequencing, and bioinformatics analyses were performed to characterize resistance phenotypes, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and evolutionary trends. Big data analysis further elucidated the genomic characteristics of CRKP in global water sources, and Galleria mellonella larvae were used to assess virulence. Statistical analysis validated the findings. A total of 192 carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella spp. isolates were identified from urban aquatic ecosystems in China (n = 60) and Nepal (n = 132), with CRKP (n = 161) being the predominant species. All CRKP isolates exhibited a multidrug-resistant phenotype, yet significant differences in resistance profiles and associated ARGs were observed between isolates from the two countries. Nine carbapenem resistance genes (CRGs) were detected, with blaNDM-1 being the most prevalent (57.8 %). Correlation analysis revealed a strong association between these CRGs and multiple Inc-type plasmids. Global genomic analysis of CRKP from water sources across eight countries identified ten distinct CRGs across 45 serotypes, with KL64 being the most predominant. Notably, carbapenem-resistant hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae was detected in water samples from Nepal. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight significant regional disparities in CRKP prevalence and ARG dissemination across urban aquatic environments, with Nepal showing the highest prevalence, particularly in untreated rivers. China exhibited lower prevalence but distinct resistance gene profiles, while no CRKP was detected in Sri Lanka, underscoring the impact of environmental management and healthcare infrastructure on ARG spread.

Humans

Histological changes in Xenopus laevis Daudin specimens kept under dry conditions, then moved back to their natural aquatic environment. I. Pituitary, thyroid and testis.

The histofunctional picture of the hypophysis, thyroid and testis was studied in Xenopus laevis specimens 1) kept in their natural aquatic environment; 2) gradually exposed to dehydration conditions under which they were kept one week; and 3) returned from the dry environment to water for 24 hr or 7 days. Of particular interest are the changes displayed in the hypophysis by type II acidophils, i.e. presumably prolactin producing cells. In the pituitary of "dry" animals and of those 24 hr after their replacement in water these cells appear numerous, large-sized and heavily stained whereas they are small and slightly stainable in the pituitary of control animals or of "dry" ones 7 days after their replacement in water. On the basis of these results it is surmised that prolactin is continuously synthesized and released into the circulation in Xenopus specimens kept or replaced in water, thereby contributing to the animals adaptation to the aquatic environment, whereas in those kept under waterless condition prolactin synthesis is not discontinued, but its release into the bloodstream declines or is abolished. In the testis of the animals kept in dry conditions or 24 hr after replacement in water, the germ cells do not seem to have undergone substantial changes, while the sudanophilic material, which can be detected in interstitial tissues in the animals kept in water, is lacking. In all groups the thyroid histofunctional pattern suggests an intense activity, particularly in control animals or in "dry" specimens 7 days after replacement into water.

Animals

Clostridium botulinum in aquatic environments in Great Britain and Ireland.

Mud samples from aquatic environments in many parts of Great Britain and Ireland were collected, mainly in 1975 and 1976, and examined for Clostridium botulinum. The samples were taken from lakes, ponds, reservoirs, marshes, mudflats, streams, rivers and canals, and the sampling areas included a number of bird refuges and reserves. Of 554 samples 194 (35.0%) were positive and 167 (30.1%), 19 (3.4%), 6 (1.1%) and 15 (2.7%) contained types B, C, D and E respectively; 13 (2.3%) contained more than one type. Each type demonstrated was found in both fresh-and salt-water environments. Type B was widespread; types C, D and E were demonstrated in widely separated areas in England and Wales, and type C was found in both the north and south of Scotland. The results were compared with those reported earlier in respect of surveys in the London area, the Norfolk Boads and the Camargue (France).

Clostridium botulinum

[Activity of antibiotics and heavy metals against "Aeromonas" isolated from aquatic environments: phenotypic and genetic transfers (author's transl)].

In this study, 64% of the 197 strains of Aeromonas isolated from different stages of aquatic environment (surface water, sewage...) were resistant to one or two antibiotics, and 20% to four or more antibiotics. These multiresistant strains were only isolated from sewage and their resistances were transferable by conjugation to different species of Gram-negative bacilli. The incidence of these results is discussed.

Aeromonas

Histological changes in Xenopus laevis Daudin adult specimens kept under dry conditions, then moved back to their natural aquatic environment. II. Skin, kidney and interrenal tissue.

Some cytological and histochemical characteristics of skin, the kidney and interrenal tissue were studied in Xenopus laevis adult specimens (1) kept in their natural aquatic environment; (2) gradually exposed to dry conditions under which they were kept one week; and (3) returned from the dry environment to water for 24 hr or a week. In the skin, the most relevant changes are those exhibited by epidermal "flask" cells. These cells are generally rather lean, tall and PAS-positive in "dry" animals and in those 24 hr after replacement in water, whereas in animals placed back in water for a week "flask" cells are often large and faintly stainable. In "dry" animals, the skin mucous glands look more emptied of secretion granules than in control animals kept in water or in "dry" specimens returned to water. Difference in the epidermis thickness or in its histochemically evidenced alkaline phosphatase activity were not observed between different groups. In the kidney a clearcut difference between animal groups was found in the glycogen content of the proximal convoluted tubules of the nephron. Glycogen level is very low in "dry" animals. These variations are tentatively ascribed to different degrees of electrolyte resorption. In the interrenal cells, the sudanophil material is scanty in "dry" animals, while it is much more abundant in those returned to water for 24 hr. Similar, though less pronounced, effects had been obtained in previous experiments of ours, in which some of the animals were kept out of water on moist moss, that is under less severe conditions of water deficiency than in the present experiments.

Adrenal Glands

Membrane filter technique for the quantification of stressed fecal coliforms in the aquatic environment.

A two-layer membrane filtration (MF) medium (injury-mitigating MF [IM-MF]) and a procedure for the enumeration of injured fecal coliforms are described. These procedures included the addition of glycerol and acetate plus reducing agents to both layers of a two-layer medium and rinsing of the filter with a rich resuscitation medium. Some changes in incubation time and temperatures were used. This method was compared with the multiple-tube fermentation most-probable-number procedure and the one-step M-FC agar-membrane filter method (direct M-FC) in terms of fecal coliform recovery from various aquatic environments that cause bacterial injury. With chlorinated sewage effluents, results of the IM-MF technique were equal to or greater than the most probable number in 9 of 18 trials and were 1.3 to 19 times greater than the M-FC method. When sewage samples were chlorinated in the laboratory, fecal coliform counts with IM-MF equaled or exceeded the most probable number in 7 of 15 trials and always exceeded the M-FC. M-FC was exceeded by IM-MF in 30 of 33 trials with clean mountain stream water. Fecal coliform bacteria that were exposed to low levels of an iodophore in the laboratory produced IM-MF counts 3 to 10 times greater than those with M-FC. A biochemical rationale for the formation of the IM-MF medium is discussed.

Bacteriological Techniques

Organochlorine residues in aquatic environments in Iran, 1974.

Organochlorine pesticide residues in various organisms from different aquatic ecosystems in Iran were investigated in spring 1974. DDT levels were high in fish taken from two rivers in southern Iran, whereas low levels were detected in samples obtained from a freshwater lake in the same area. Fish from two of the reservoirs supplying Tehran with potable water contained moderate levels of DDT. The low residue level in pike collected in the Bandar-Pahlavi Mordab in northwest Iran indicates that only a small amount of organochlorine pesticides used in this area enters the pelagic food chain. Sturgeon collected at different places in the Caspian Sea showed similar accumulations of DDT in the muscles and in the eggs. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were detected only in samples of sediment from the drainage systems in Tehran.

Aldrin

Fate of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in a model aquatic environment.

The fate of TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) was studied by using aquatic sediment and lake water under laboratory conditions. Most of the TCDD was found in the sediment from which it slowly disappeared. Evaporation may be a major mode of disappearance of TCDD in samples incubated 39 days or more, with metabolism playing only a minor role. Under the experimental conditions the half-life of TCDD was in the order of 600 days. The metabolic activities were enhanced under conditions which stimulated microbial growth in the presence of sediment, and the metabolites were found to be released from the sediment to the ambient water.

Biodegradation, Environmental

Salmonella serotypes isolated from the aquatic environment (Wabash River, Indiana, 1973-1976).

During 1973-1976, 833 isolations of salmonellae were made from the aquatic biosphere of the Wabash River, Lafayette, Ind. Of the isolants, 643 were definitively serotyped. Salmonella typhimurium represented 34.4% of the cultures. Salmonella eimsbuettel previously had not been recognized in Indiana. A total of 35 serotypes and 1 untypable group C1 was obtained from the aquatic samples, ie, river water, river bottom sediment, fish, and mussels. Most of the isolants were presumed to be of human origin, because many samplings were made in close proximity to sewage treatment plant outfalls. During the survey period, epidemic salmonellosis had not been reported for the Lafayette-West Lafayette metropolitan area.

Indiana

Novel bacterial hosts and mobile genetic structure of tet(X) variants in tetracycline-contaminated aquatic environment uncovered by culture and long-read metagenomics.

Clinically important tigecycline (3rd-generation tetracycline) resistance tet(X) variants were inferred to have evolutionarily originated from environmental bacteria, and have been recognized among environment, human and animals. However, genetic basis for environmental proliferation and dissemination of tet(X) variants remains ambiguous. This study profiled tet(X) variants at gene, contig, isolate, and community levels in environmental community subjected to long-term stepwise increasing oxytetracycline (1st-generation tetracycline) or tigecycline pressure using long-term microcosm experiments, quantitative PCR, bacterial isolation, whole-genome sequencing, and Nanopore-based long-read metagenomics. We confirmed that both oxytetracycline and tigecycline enriched the abundance of tetracycline resistance genes especially oxytetracycline-enriched tet(X3). Unexpectedly diverse bacterial hosts and genetic structure of tet(X)-positive mobile elements in the environment microbiome were identified using bacterial isolation and long-read Nanopore metagenomics. Pseudomonas defluvii was first reported to carry tet(X3) in the chromosome, forming IS26-tet(X3)-res-ISCR2 circular intermediate to transfer between different DNA molecules. Database mining revealed similar mobile segments have prevailed among animal-derived Acinetobacter species. Unlike the widely reported ISCR2-mediated transfer of tet(X6), we identified a novel mobile multidrug transposon TnAs3 where tet(X6) and class 1 integron co-transferred as its passenger region. Mobile tet(X2)-ere(D)-aadS-erm(F)-blaOXA-347 segment was annotated in Runella, and co-occurrences of tet(X2) and ere(D), aadS, blaOXA-347 were also found in Flavobacterium, Arsenicibacter, Chryseobacterium and Pedobacter. Overall, tetracycline-contaminated aquatic microbiome harboured diverse mobile tet(X)-positive segments which have not yet been acquired by clinical pathogens, and thus served as the genetic pool of tet(X) variants together with indigenous bacterial hosts, especially the newly reported Pseudomonas defluvii. Reducing pollution of older-generation tetracyclines would be a proactive way to mitigate environmental evolution and possible clinical effects of tet(X) variants.

Metagenomics

Crankcase oils: are they a major mutagenic burden in the aquatic environment?

Fractions from used crankcase oil enriched in polyaromatic hydrocarbons induced revertant colonies in Salmonella typhimurium strain TA 98 when activated by rat or trout liver extracts. The mutagenic activity was not due to benzopyrene or benzanthracene. Fractions from various crude and refined petroleums were nonmutagenic. Among various petroleum hydrocarbons entering inland and coastal waters, used crankcase oils may represent a major mutagenic burden.

Animals

Role of plasmids in mercury transformation by bacteria isolated from the aquatic environment.

Eight mercury-resistant bacterial strains isolated from the Chesapeake Bay and one strain isolated from the Cayman Trench were examined for ability to volatilize mercury. Mercury volatilization was found to be variable in the strains tested. In addition, plasmids were detected in all strains. After curing, two of the bacterial strains lost mercury resistance, indicating that volatilization is plasmid mediated in these strains. Only two cultures demonstrated ability to methylate mercuric chloride under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions. Methylation of mercury, compared with volatilization, appears to be mediated by a separate genetic system in these bacteria. It is concluded that mercury volatilization in the estuarine environment can be mediated by genes carried on plasmids.

Anti-Bacterial Agents