Dynamics and diversity of Escherichia coli in animals and system management of the manure in a commercial farrow-to-finish pig farm
Applied and Environmental Microbiology publish this investigation article
February 1st, 2013
The objective of this study was to determine the dynamics and diversity of Escherichia coli population in animal and environmental lines of a commercial farrow-to-finish pig farm in Spain along a full production cycle (July 2008 to July 2009), with special attention to its antimicrobial resistance and integron presence.In the animal line a total of 256 isolates were collected from pregnant sows (10 samples; 20 isolates), one-week-old piglets (20; 40), unweaned piglets (20; 38), growers (20; 40) and finishers` floor-pen (6; 118 isolates); from the underfloor pits and farm slurry tank environmental lines, a total of 100 and 119 isolates, respectively were collected.Our results showed that E. coli populations in the pig fecal microbiota and in the farm environment are highly dynamic and show high diversity levels. These issues have been proven through DNA-based typing data (Repetitive Extragenic Palindromic, REP-PCR) and phenotypic typing data (antimicrobial resistance profile comprising 19 antimicrobials).Clustering the sampling groups based on their REP-PCR typing showed that the spatial features (the line) had a stronger weight than the temporal features (sampling week) for clustering E. coli populations; this weight was less significant when clustering based on resistotypes. Among animals, finishers harbored an E. coli population different from the remaining animal populations studied, considering REP-PCR fingerprints and resistotypes. This population - the most important from a Public Health perspective - demonstrated the lowest levels of antimicrobial resistance and integron presence
Marchant-Mella MA. and Moreno MA.
Servicio de Zoonosis de Transmisión Alimentaria y Resistencia a Antimicrobianos (ZTA). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM). | |
Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM). | |