Bacteriophage Isolated From The Environment And E. Coli Of Meat Origin As A Reservoir Of Antibiotic Resistance

ABSTRACT BACTERIOPHAGE ISOLATED FROM THE ENVIRONMENT AND E. COLI OF MEAT ORIGIN AS A RESERVOIR OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE by MANISHA POLUR April 2014 Advisor: Dr. Yifan Zhang Major: Nutrition and Food Science Degree: Master of Science This study was aimed to determine the extent of antibiotic resistance reservoir in bacteriophage. Bacteriophages were isolated and purified from waste water treatment plants, Detroit river, Belle Isle, Urban Garden soils and examined for the presence of beta-lactam antibiotic resistance genes. Thirty E. coli isolates from retail meat were analyzed for the presence of beta-lactam antibiotic resistance genes. 95% of E. coli them carried at least one antibiotic resistance gene on their genome. Bacteriophages were induced from the E. coli isolates by subjecting them to mitomycin C, thereby creating a stressful environment resulting in the release of prophages. Phages were induced from 40% of E. coli and isolated from 70% of the environmental samples by spot lysis assay by using two E. coli indicator strains. Phage DNA was analyzed for several beta-lactamase genes such as blaTEM-1, blaCMY-2, blaCTX-M1, blaOXA-2 and blaSHV-1. Among the bacteriophages induced from the E. coli isolates, all of them carried the blaTEM-1 genes on their DNA and 20% of them carried the blaCMY-2 genes. Forty percent of phages isolated from environmental samples carried blaTEM-1 and 60% of them carried blaCMY-2. This study suggests that phage from the environment and bacteria can be an important reservoir of antibiotic resistance