Phenotypic and Molecular Assessment of Drug Resistance Profile and Genetic Diversity of Waterborne Escherichia coli

Abstract

Bacterial <i>Escherichia coli</i> isolates were derived from waters of the Nowohucki Reservoir (Cracow, Poland) in summer and winter seasons. In total, 94 strains, identified as <i>E. coli</i>, were isolated from five sampling sites in the area of the reservoir. Based on the disk-diffusion tests, it was found that the tested isolates were predominantly resistant to ticarcillin and ampicillin. Numerous multi-drug resistant strains were detected, which however did not exhibit the ESBL phenotype. However, PCR approach allowed to detect ESBL-mechanism genes (CTX-M3, OXA, SHV, and TEM) in as much as 38 % of <i>E. coli</i> isolates. These results were coupled with significant molecular diversity of the <i>E. coli</i> strains revealed in BOXA1R-based rep-PCR technique.