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Impact of an Aerobic Thermophilic Sequencing Batch Reactor on Antibiotic-Resistant Anaerobic Bacteria in Swine Waste

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

The introduction of antibiotics to animal feed has contributed to the selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in concentrated animal feeding operations. The aim of this work was to characterize the impact of an aerobic thermophilic biotreatment on anaerobic antibiotic-resistant bacteria in swine waste. Despite 162- to 6,166-fold reduction in antibiotic-resistant populations enumerated in the swine waste at 25°C and 37°C, resistant populations remained significant (104 to 105 most probable number per milliliter) in the treated swine waste. Five resistance genes were detected before [tet(LMOS) erm(B)], and six resistance genes were detected after [tet(LMOSY) erm(B)] biotreatment. However, the biotreatment decreased the frequency of detection of resistance genes by 57%. Analysis by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified 16 S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) fragments showed that the biotreatment reduced the bacterial diversity of resistant populations enumerated at 37°C. Cloning and sequencing of the 16 S rDNA of these populations revealed that most clones in the treated swine waste were closely similar to some of the clones retrieved from the untreated swine waste. This study revealed that the aerobic thermophilic biotreatment developed in our laboratory does not prevent the introduction of facultatively anaerobic antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their resistance genes into agricultural ecosystems. Horizontal transfer of ecologically advantageous genes within microbial communities are likely to prevent thermophilic biotreatments from completely eliminating antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their resistance genes in animal wastes.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to P.J., and by Postdoctoral Fellowships from the Fonds québécois de Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies du Québec (FQRNT) and the Fondation Armand-Frappier to M.R.C. We thank Dr. Josée Harel (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal), Dr. Roland Brousseau (Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Council Canada, Montreal) and Dr. Marilyn C. Roberts (University of Washington) for providing positive control strains for PCR.

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  1. Martin R. Chénier

    Present address: Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada

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  1. INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, Université du Québec, 531 des Prairies Boulevard, Laval, H7V 1B7, QC, Canada

    Martin R. Chénier & Pierre Juteau

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Chénier, M.R., Juteau, P. Impact of an Aerobic Thermophilic Sequencing Batch Reactor on Antibiotic-Resistant Anaerobic Bacteria in Swine Waste. Microb Ecol 58, 773–785 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-009-9546-4

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