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Comparative Study
. 2013 Dec 31;8(12):e84048.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084048. eCollection 2013.

Comparison of ESBL--and AmpC producing Enterobacteriaceae and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from migratory and resident population of rooks (Corvus frugilegus) in Austria

Igor Loncaric  1 , Gabrielle L Stalder  2 , Kemal Mehinagic  1 , Renate Rosengarten  1 , Franz Hoelzl  2 , Felix Knauer  2 , Chris Walzer  2
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of ESBL--and AmpC producing Enterobacteriaceae and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from migratory and resident population of rooks (Corvus frugilegus) in Austria

Igor Loncaric et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

In order to test whether rooks (Corvus frugilegus) represent good indicators for the potential circulation of antibiotics in their native habitat, two populations with different migratory behavior were tested for the presence of beta-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In all, 54 and 102 samples of fresh feces of a migratory and a resident population were investigated. A total of 24 and 3 cefotaxime-resistant enterobacterial isolates were obtained from the migratory and resident population, respectively. In these isolates CTX-M-1 (n = 15), CTX-M-3 (n = 3), and CTX-M-15 (n = 3) genes were detected. TEM-1 and OXA-1 were associated with CTX-M in 3 and 2 isolates, respectively. In two E. coli isolates CMY-2 could be detected, where from one isolate displayed an overexpression of chromosomal AmpC as well. Among E. coli isolates the most common phylogenetic group was A (n = 11) and ST1683 (n = 5). In one E. coli of B2-ST131 the rfbO25b locus was detected. Three Enterobacter isolates were stably derepressed AmpC-producers. In five samples of the migratory population, PVL positive MRSA could be isolated. Two isolates were typed SCCmec IVa, spa type t127, and ST1. Three isolates carried a SCCmec type IVc, with spa type t852 and ST22. The highly significant difference of the occurrence of antibiotic resistance between the migratory population from eastern Europe compared to resident population in our study indicates that rooks may be good indicator species for the evaluation of environmental contamination with antibiotic resistant bacteria, especially due to their ecology, foraging behavior and differing migratory behavior.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Proportion of antibiotic resistance in the two rook populations.
The percentage of antibiotic resistance rates is significantly (p<0.001) higher in the migrating (lob) population then in the resident (wul) population
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Grants and funding

This study was supported by internal funding of Unit of Clinical Microbiology and Infection Biology and Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.