Antibiotic Resistance Gene Transfer in Oysters as a Result of Fecal Pollution

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance is an increasing problem in many species of bacteria today, with pathogens an important focus. Fecal contamination of shellfish is already a concern due to potential pathogens. This report examines the possibility of resistance gene transfer between microbes, due to fecal bacteria, within the oyster. In this study, the transfer of a tetracycline resistance gene, tetQ, in a quasi-natural environment is examined. A donor strain of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a species that can be found in feces, successfully transferred a tetQ containing conjugative transposon to a recipient B. thetaiotaomicron strain. Oysters were exposed to various treatments and controls, and examined for the presence of transconjugant microbial colonies. Transconjugant colonies were recovered from the bodies of experimental oysters, and verified via growth on selective media and PCR amplification. The preliminary work in this report indicates that fecal bacteria could initiate resistance gene transfer between microbes within oysters.