International Journal of Aquaculture, 2016, Vol.6, No.3, 1
-
9
1
Research Article Open Access
Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance among the Gut Associated Bacteria of
Indigenous Freshwater Fishes
Aplocheilus lineatus
and
Etroplus maculatus
Asla V.
1
, Neethu K.P.
1
, Athira V.
1
, Nashad M.
1,2
, Mohamed Hatha A.A.
1,
1 Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Fine Arts Avenue,
Cochin, India
2 Nansen Environmental Research Centre, India (NERCI), 6A, Oxford Business Centre (6th Floor), Sreekandath Road, Ravipuram, Kochi 682016, Kerala,
India
Corresponding author Email
International Journal of Aquaculture, 2016, Vol. 6, No.3 doi
Received: 16 Feb., 2016
Accepted: 29 Mar., 2016
Published: 12 Sep., 2016
Copyright © 2016
Asla et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Asla V., Neethu K.P., Athira V., Nashad M. and Mohamed Hatha A.A., 2016, Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance Among the Gut Associated Bacteria of
Indigenous Freshwater Fishes
Aplocheilus lineatus
and
Etroplus maculatus
, International Journal of Aquaculture, 6(3): 1-9 (doi
Abstract
Prevalence of antibiotic resistance among gut associated bacteria of two indigenous freshwater ornamental fishes were
analyzed in this study. A total of 56 bacteria were isolated from the gut of
Aplocheilus lineatus
and
Etroplus maculatus
. Total viable
count (TVC) of heterotrophic bacteria ranged between 1.7 x 10
6
to 6.8 x 10
6
and 0.2 x 10
4
to 0.65 x 10
7
cfu per gram in gut of
Etroplus
maculatus
and
Aplocheilus lineatus
respectively. Predominant genera encountered in the gut of A.
lineatus
were
Lactobacillus,
Bacillus, Micrococcus,
and
Aeromonas
, while that of
E. maculatus
was dominated by
Micrococcus
followed by
Bacillus,
Lactobacillus
and
Vibrios
. The isolates were subjected 11 different antibiotics belonging to 7 different classes such as
aminoglycocides (streptomycin, gentamicin), quinolones (nalidixic acid), fluorquinolones (ciprofloxacin), tetracyclines (tetracycline),
penicillin (carbenicillin), cephalosporins (cephalothin, cefpodoxime), sulphonamides (sulfafurazole, trimethoprim). Antibiotic
resistance among the gut associated bacteria from A.
lineatus
was relatively lower when compared to those from the gut of
E.
maculatus
. Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) indexing of the isolates revealed that nearly 50% of the bacterial isolates of
E.
maculatus
were multiple drug resistance, while in A.
lineatus
it was found to be 38.41%.The MAR index of the isolates ranged from
0.09 - 0.36 in A.
lineatus
; 0.09 - 0.63 in
E. maculatus
.While most isolates from the gut of both the fishes were resistant to
Cefpodoxime, none of the isolates were resistant to Gentamicin. Though the prevalence of antibiotic resistance among gut of these
indigenous fishes are relatively lower when compared those from the gut of cultured ones, considerable pollution of the natural
waters are providing ideal environment for the emergence of drug resistance mutants and subsequent colonisation in the gut of fish
fauna of these waters.
Keywords
Antibiotic resistance;
Aplocheilus lineatus
;
Etroplus maculatus
;
MAR index
; Indigenous freshwater fishes
1 Introduction
Aquarium keeping is amongst the most popular of hobbies with millions of enthusiasts worldwide. With the high
demand and pricing of many beautiful species, ornamental fish are being harvested at greater volumes and higher
rates, threatening the viability or sustainability of the fishery (Lunn and Moreau, 2004). Hatchery rearing is an
alternative to overcome this situation. However, disease outbreaks during the early developmental stages results in
economic loss and is the main constraint in preventing the success (Verschuere et al., 2000).
Aeromonas,
Citrobacter, Edwardsiella, Flavobacterium, Mycobacterium, Pseudomonas, Vibrio,Yersinia
and
Streptococcus
are
the bacterial pathogens commonly involved in infections in ornamental fishes (Musa et al., 2008).
Infections are treated with antibiotics as therapeutic, but there has been growing concern about the overuse of
antibiotics in the ornamental fish industry and its possible effect on the cumulative drug resistance in bacteria
associated with these fishes (Rose et al., 2013). Aquaculture ponds and ornamental fish farms have been
concerned as potential environment to the progress and selection of resistant bacteria and the source of these
pathogens to other animals and humans (Madhuri et al., 2012). It can also act as a pool of antimicrobial resistance
genes that may eventually be transferred to clinically significant bacteria (Miranda et al., 2013). Detection of
