RT Journal Article
T1 Antibiotic Resistance Genes, Virulence Factors, and Biofilm Formation in Coagulase-Negative Staphylococcus spp. Isolates from European Hakes (Merluccius merluccius, L.) Caught in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean
A1 Díaz Formoso, Lara
A1 Silva, Vanessa
A1 Contente, Diogo
A1 Feito Hermida, Javier
A1 Hernández Cruza, Pablo Elpidio
A1 Borrero Del Pino, Juan
A1 Igrejas, Gilberto
A1 Del Campo, Rosa
A1 Muñoz Atienza, Estefanía
A1 Poeta, Patrícia
A1 Cintas Izarra, Luis Miguel
AB The indiscriminate use of antibiotics has contributed to the dissemination of multiresistant bacteria, which represents a public health concern. The aim of this work was to characterize 27 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) isolated from eight wild Northeast Atlantic hakes (Merluccius merluccius, L.) and taxonomically identified as Staphylococcus epidermidis (n = 16), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (n = 4), Staphylococcus hominis (n = 3), Staphylococcus pasteuri (n = 2), Staphylococcus edaphicus (n = 1), and Staphylococcus capitis (n = 1). Biofilm formation was evaluated with a microtiter assay, antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the disk diffusion method, and antibiotic resistance and virulence determinants were detected by PCR. Our results showed that all staphylococci produced biofilms and that 92.6% of the isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic, mainly penicillin (88.8%), fusidic acid (40.7%), and erythromycin (37%). The penicillin resistance gene (blaZ) was detected in 66.6% (18) of the isolates, of which 10 also carried resistance genes to macrolides and lincosamides (mphC, msr(A/B), lnuA, or vgaA), 4 to fusidic acid (fusB), and 3 to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (dfrA). At least one virulence gene (scn, hla, SCCmecIII, and/or SCCmecV) was detected in 48% of the isolates. This study suggests that wild European hake destined for human consumption could act as a vector of CoNS carrying antibiotic resistance genes and/or virulence factors.
PB MDPI
SN 2076-0817
YR 2023
FD 2023-12-13
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/103642
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/103642
LA eng
NO Díaz-Formoso, L.; Silva, V.; Contente, D.; Feito, J.; Hernández, P.E.; Borrero, J.; Igrejas, G.; Campo, R.d.; Muñoz-Atienza, E.; Poeta, P.; et al. Antibiotic Resistance Genes, Virulence Factors, and Biofilm Formation in Coagulase-Negative Staphylococcus spp. Isolates from European Hakes (Merluccius merluccius, L.) Caught in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean. Pathogens 2023, 12, 1447. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12121447
NO Author Contributions: Conceptualization, L.M.C., P.P. and E.M.-A.; methodology, L.D.-F., V.S., D.C., E.M.-A. and J.F.; software, L.D.-F., V.S., R.d.C. and D.C.; validation, P.P., G.I., J.F. and J.B.; formal analysis, L.D.-F., V.S., R.d.C. and J.F.; investigation, L.D.-F., E.M.-A. and D.C.; resources, J.B., P.P., G.I., P.E.H. and L.M.C.; data curation, L.D.-F.; writing—original draft preparation, L.D.-F.; writing—review and editing, E.M.-A., L.M.C. and P.P.; visualization, L.D.-F. and E.M.-A.; supervision, L.M.C., E.M.-A. and P.P.; project administration, L.M.C., P.E.H., E.M.-A. and J.B.; funding acquisition, L.M.C., J.B. and P.E.H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
NO Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
NO Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 10 abr 2025