Class 1 Integrons and the Antiseptic Resistance Gene ( qacEΔ1 ) in Municipal and Swine Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treatment Plants and Wastewater—Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Min Tao Wan and Chin Cheng Chou
Additional contact information
Min Tao Wan: School of Veterinary Medicine, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Chin Cheng Chou: School of Veterinary Medicine, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: Class 1 integrons are mobile gene elements (MGEs) containing qacEΔ1 that are resistant to quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) disinfectants. This study compared the abundances of class 1 integrons and antiseptic resistance genes in municipal (M) and swine slaughterhouse (S) wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and investigated the presence of class 1 integrons and antiseptic resistance genes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from wastewater samples. The abundances of intI1 and qacEΔ1 genes in 96 wastewater samples were quantified using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time qPCR), and 113 MRSA isolates recovered from the wastewater samples were detected class 1 integrons and linked antiseptic resistance genes ( qacEΔ1 ), and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for QAC antiseptics. The intI1 and qacEΔ1 genes were detected in all the wastewater samples, and they were more abundant in S-WWTP samples than in M-WWTP samples. A higher percentage of MRSA isolates carried qacEΔ1 in MRSA from swine wastewater samples (62.8%) than in municipal MRSA (3.7%). All the MRSA isolates showed high MICs for antiseptic agents. This study provides important evidence regarding the abundances of intI1 and qacEΔ1 genes in municipal and swine slaughterhouse wastewater, and antiseptic-resistant MRSA strains were detected in swine slaughterhouse wastewater.

Keywords: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; class 1 integrons and antiseptic resistance genes; wastewater (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/6/6249/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/6/6249/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:6:p:6249-6260:d:50524

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().