Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of foodborne bacteria isolated from Sinop Province, Turkey

In this study, genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of the strains, antibiotic susceptibility, and antibiotic resistance genes of the Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Listeria spp., and Salmonella spp. isolated from various animal foods in Sinop province were determined. Resistance percentages of the isolated strains to the antibiotics penicillin, vancomycin, clindamycin, tetracycline, ampicillin/sulbactam, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and chloramphenicol were 87.8, 71.9, 69.7, 63.4, 27.5, 23.1, 20.9, and 13.4%, respectively. Antibiotic resistance genes tetA, bla(CMY-2), and cat1 were found in 45, 21.25, and 6.25% of all the strains, respectively. The virulence genes were also investigated in the isolated in E. coli strains; the eae gene was found in 13.1% of the strains, while the stx1 was not identified in any strains. As a result, we can say that SDS-PAGE method may provide discrimination at species level; however, surveys at subspecies level demand molecular approaches such as ERIC and (GTG)(5)-PCR. In addition, we can suggest that molecular techniques may be especially helpful in the rapid identification of multidrug-resistant and isolates with virulence genes. This study has revealed that the investigated bacteria in animal foods is a significant reservoir of resistance genes.