Isolation of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria from Rivers in Kelantan, Malaysia

Abstract

Antibiotic resistant bacteria have been a major concern due to the problems that they may pose in terms of public and environmental health. This present study aimed to investigate the presence of antibiotic resistance among bacterial strains isolated from rivers and to determine the impact of various human activities on the distribution of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Bacteria were isolated from river water samples of Lebir River (Point 1 and Point 2) and Kelantan River (Point 3 and Point 4). Antibiotic susceptibility test was conducted on the bacterial isolates against six types of antibiotics (ampicillin, gentamycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, rifampicin and ciprofloxacin) was performed, followed by characterization and identification of the isolates using a series of biochemical tests. The findings show the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in all four samples, indicating the relationship between the resistance of isolates and the human activities within the vicinity of the area. A total of 27 bacterial isolates were successfully isolated from the rivers and predicted as Actinomyces sp., Arachnia sp., Streptomyces sp., Streptococcus sp., Enterococcus sp., Bacillus sp., Clostridium sp., Neisseria sp., Veillonella sp., Bacteroides sp., Salmonella sp., Shigella sp., Proteus sp., Enterobacter sp., Klebsiella sp., Escherichia sp, Pseudomonas sp., Aeromonas sp., Vibrio sp. Staphylococcus sp., Micrococcus sp., Actinobacillus sp., and Flavobacterium sp. However, further analysis of the antibiotic resistant bacteria is recommended to further identify and understand them due to the potential risk that they may pose to human and environment.

Keywords

• Antibiotic resistance bacteria
• multi antibiotic resistance
• river waters
• Kelantan

Supporting Institution

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Project Number

17H74 and 04G97

Thanks

We sincerely thank the staff and administration of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for their assistance and support in this study.

References

1. 1. Jiang, L., et al., Prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes and their relationship with antibiotics in the Huangpu River and the drinking water sources, Shanghai, China. Science of the Total Environment. 2013. 458: p. 267–272.
2. 2. Martinez, J.L., Environmental pollution by antibiotics and by antibiotic resistance determinants. Environmental Pollution, 2009. 157: p. 2893–2902.
3. 3. Al-Badaii, F., and M.S. Othman, Water Pollution and its Impact on the Prevalence of Antibiotic-Resistant E. coli and Total Coliform Bacteria: A Study of the Semenyih River, Peninsular Malaysia. Water Qual Expo Health, 2015. 7: p. 319–330.
4. 4. Barile, M.F., Gram staining technique. Methods in Mycoplasmology V1: Mycoplasma Characterization, 2012. 1: p. 39.
5. 5. Hudzicki, J., Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion susceptibility test protocol. American Society for Microbiology, 2009. 2016: p. 1-23.
6. 6. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, CLSI, M100-S25. Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing; Twenty-Fifth Informational Supplement. Wayne, PA: Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, 2015.
7. 7. Bhuvaneshwari, G., Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Indexing of Non-Fermenting Gram-Negative Bacilli. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research, 2017. 10 (6): p. 78-80.
8. 8. Holt, J. G., S. T. Williams, and Holt, Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Vol. 4: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1989.

9. 9. Vos, P., et al., Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology: Volume 3: The Firmicutes (Vol. 3): Springer Science & Business Media, 2011.
10. 10. Ahmad, A. K., I. Mushrifah, and M.S. Othman, Water Quality and Heavy Metal Concentrations in Sediment of Sungai Kelantan, Kelantan, Malaysia: A Baseline Study. Sains Malaysiana, 2009. 38(4): p. 435–442.
11. 11. Akmaliah Razak Potensi komersial Sungai Lebir. Kumpulan Media Karangkraf. Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://www.karangkraf.com/berita/potensi-komersial-sungai-lebir-1.639980 (2017, 9 March).