Isolation and Identification of Waterborne Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and Molecular Characterization of their Antibiotic Resistance Genes

Summary

Here, we present a detailed protocol for the isolation and identification of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from water and the molecular characterization of their antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The use of culture-based and non-culture-based (metagenomic analysis) techniques provides complete information about the total bacterial diversity and the total pool of different ARGs present in freshwaters from Mumbai, India.

Abstract

The development and spread of antibiotic resistance (AR) through microbiota associated with freshwater bodies is a major global health concern. In the present study, freshwater samples were collected and analyzed with respect to the total bacterial diversity and AR genes (ARGs) using both conventional culture-based techniques and a high-throughput culture-independent metagenomic approach. This paper presents a systematic protocol for the enumeration of the total and antibiotic-resistant culturable bacteria from freshwater samples and the determination of phenotypic and genotypic resistance in the culturable isolates. Further, we report the use of whole metagenomic analysis of the total metagenomic DNA extracted from the freshwater sample for the identification of the overall bacterial diversity, including non-culturable bacteria, and the identification of the total pool of different ARGs (resistome) in the water body. Following these detailed protocols, we observed a high antibiotic-resistant bacteria load in the range of 9.6 × 10⁵-1.2 × 10⁹ CFU/mL. Most isolates were resistant to the multiple tested antibiotics, including cefotaxime, ampicillin, levofloxacin, chloramphenicol, ceftriaxone, gentamicin, neomycin, trimethoprim, and ciprofloxacin, with multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) indexes of ≥0.2, indicating high levels of resistance in the isolates. The 16S rRNA sequencing identified potential human pathogens, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, and opportunistic bacteria, such as Comamonas spp., Micrococcus spp., Arthrobacter spp., and Aeromonas spp. The molecular characterization of the isolates showed the presence of various ARGs, such as blaTEM, blaCTX-M (β-lactams), aadA, aac (6')-Ib (aminoglycosides), and dfr1 (trimethoprims), which was also confirmed by the whole metagenomic DNA analysis. A high prevalence of other ARGs encoding for antibiotic efflux pumps-mtrA, macB, mdtA, acrD, β-lactamases-SMB-1, VIM-20, ccrA, ampC, blaZ, the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene catB10, and the rifampicin resistance gene rphB-was also detected in the metagenomic DNA. With the help of the protocols discussed in this study, we confirmed the presence of waterborne MAR bacteria with diverse AR phenotypic and genotypic traits. Thus, whole metagenomic DNA analysis can be used as a complementary technique to conventional culture-based techniques to determine the overall AR status of a water body.

Introduction

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been identified as one of the most pressing global problems. The rapid evolution of AMR and its worldwide spread are one of the greatest threats to human health and the global economy in terms of the health costs associated with it¹. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics have led to an increase in AR. This has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the treatment of associated secondary infections, in many cases, was hugely compromised due to AMR in the affected patients². Besides the direct use/misuse of antibiotics by humans, the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in ag....

Protocol

1. Sample collection and processing

1. Sample collection
   1. Collect the appropriate volume of the water sample in sterile sample container(s), ensuring that not more than 3/4 of the container is filled.
   2. Transport the samples to the laboratory under aseptic conditions as soon as possible after collection and immediately process them.
2. Sample processing
   1. Aseptically filter the water sample through a sterile muslin cloth to remove any particulate matter.
   2. Carry out appropriate serial dilutions of the filtered water for further analysis.

Results

Total bacterial load and antibiotic-resistant (AR) bacteria count
The enumeration of the total bacterial load was carried out by spreading 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻⁶ fold dilutions of the water samples on R2A Agar, Modified medium. For the enumeration of the AR bacteria count, 10⁻³ to 10⁻⁶ fold dilutions were spread on media plates containing antibiotics (Figure 3). The total and AR bacteria counts were calculated a.......

Discussion

The sample collection and processing play a significant role and might affect the results and interpretation of the study. Hence, to rule out variability in the samples, it is important to carry out sampling at multiple locations of the freshwater body being studied. Maintaining proper aseptic environmental conditions when handling such samples can prevent contamination. Moreover, to prevent changes in the bacterial composition that may influence the quality and quantity of extracted nucleic acids, the transit conditions.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
100 bp DNA ladder	Himedia	MBT049-50LN	For estimation of size of the amplicons
2x PCR Taq mastermix	HiMedia	MBT061-50R	For making PCR reaction mixture
37 °C Incubator	GS-192, Gayatri Scientific	NA	For incubation of bacteria
6x Gel Loading Buffer	HiMedia	ML015-1ML	Loading and Tracking dye which helps to weigh down the DNA sample and track the progress of electrophoresis
Agarose powder	Himedia	MB229-50G	For resolving amplicons during Agarose Gel Electrophoresis (AGE)
Ampicillin antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD002	For performing AST
Autoclave	Equitron	NA	Required for sterilization of media, glass plates, test tubes, etc
Bioanalyzer 2100	Agilent Technologies	NA	To check the quality and quantity of the amplified library
Bisafety B2 Cabinet	IMSET	IMSET BSC-Class II Type B2	Used for microbiological work like bacterial culturing, AST etc.
Cefotaxime antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD295E-5VL	For performing AST
Cefotaxime antibiotic powder	HiMedia	TC352-5G	For preparation of antibiotic stock solution required during isolation of antibiotic resistant bacteria
Ceftriaxone antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD065	For performing AST
Centrifuge Minispin	Eppendorf	Minispin Plus-5453	Used to pellet the debris during crude DNA preparation
Chloramphenicol antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD006-5x50DS	For performing AST
Ciprofloxacin antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD060-5x50DS	For performing AST
Ciprofloxacin antibiotic powder	HiMedia	TC447-5G	For preparation of antibiotic stock solution required during isolation of antibiotic resistant bacteria
Colorimeter	Quest	NA	For checking the OD of culture suspensions
Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD) database			functional annotation of ARGs; https://card.mcmaster.ca/
Cooling Shaker Incubator	BTL41 Allied Scientific	NA	For incubation of media plates for culturing bacteria
Deep Freezer (-40 °C)	Haier	DW40L, Haier Biomedicals	For storage of glycerol stocks
DNA Library Prep Kit	NEB Next Ultra DNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina	NA	Paired-end sequencing library preparation
EDTA	HiMedia	GRM1195-100G	For preparation of Gel running buffer for Agarose Gel Electrophoresis (AGE)
Electrophoresis Apparatus	TechResource	15 cm gel casting tray	For making the agarose gel  and carrying out electrophoresis
Electrophoresis Power pack with electrodes	Genei	NA	For running the AGE
Erythromycin antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD222-5VL	For performing AST
Erythromycin antibiotic powder	HiMedia	CMS528-1G	For preparation of antibiotic stock solution required during isolation of antibiotic resistant bacteria
Erythromycin antibiotic powder	HiMedia	TC024-5G	For preparation of antibiotic stock solution required during isolation of antibiotic resistant bacteria
Escherichia coli ATCC 25922	HiMedia	0335X-1	Used as a control while performing AST
Ethidium Bromide	HiMedia	MB071-1G	Intercalating agent and visualizaion of DNA after electrophoresis under Gel Documentation System
Fluorometer	Qubit 2.0	NA	For determining concentration of extracted metagenomic DNA
Gel Documentation System	BioRad		Used for visualizing PCR amplicons after electrophoresis
Gentamicin antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD170-5x50DS	For performing AST
Glacial Acetic Acid	HiMedia	AS119-500ML	For preparation of Gel running buffer for Agarose Gel Electrophoresis (AGE)
Glycerol	HiMedia	GRM1027-500ML	For making glycerol stocks
Imipenem antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD073	For performing AST
Kaiju Database	NA	NA	For taxonomical classification of reads; https://kaiju.binf.ku.dk/
Kanamycin antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD017-5x50DS	For performing AST
Kanamycin antibiotic powder	HiMedia	MB105-5G	For preparation of antibiotic stock solution required during isolation of antibiotic resistant bacteria
Levofloxacin antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD216-5VL	For performing AST
Luria Bertani broth	Himedia	M1245-500G	For enrichment of cultures
McFarland Standards	Himedia	R092-1No	To compare density of culture suspension
Molecular Biology water	HiMedia	TCL018-500ML	For making PCR reaction mixture
Mueller-Hinton Agar (MHA)	HiMedia	M173-500G	For performing Antibiotc Susceptibility Testing (AST)
Neomycin antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD731-5x50DS	For performing AST
PCR Gradient Thermal Cycler	Eppendorf	Mastercycler Nexus Gradient 230V/50-60 Hz	Used for performing PCR for amplification of 16S rRNA region and various Antibiotic Resistance genes
Primers	Xcelris	NA	For PCR amplication
R2A Agar, Modified	HiMedia	M1743	For preparation of media plates for isolation of total and antibiotic resistant (AR) bacterial load
Scaffold generation	CLC Genomics Workbench 6.0	NA	For generation of scaffolds
Sequencer	Illumina platform (2 x 150 bp chemistry)	NA	Sequencing of amplified library
Sodium Chloride	HiMedia	TC046-500G	For preparation of 0.85% saline for serially diluting the water sample
Soil DNA isolation Kit	Xcelgen	NA	For extraction of whole metagenomic DNA from the filtered water sample
Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus ATCC 29213	HiMedia	0365P	Used as a control while performing AST
Taxonomical Classification	Kaiju ioinformatics tool	NA	For classification of reads into different taxonomic groups from phylum to genus level
The Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD)	NA	NA	For functional annotation of ARGs
Tigecycline antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD278	For performing AST
Trimethoprim antibiotic disc	HiMedia	SD039-5x50DS	For performing AST
Tris base	HiMedia	TC072-500G	For preparation of Gel running buffer for Agarose Gel Electrophoresis (AGE)
Vancomycin antibiotic powder	HiMedia	CMS217	For preparation of antibiotic stock solution required during isolation of antibiotic resistant bacteria
Weighing Balance	Mettler Toledo	ME204 Mettler Toledo	Used for weighing media powders, reagent powders etc.
NA - Not Applicable