Characterization of a collection of plasmid-containing bacteria isolated from an on-farm biopurification system used for pesticide removal

Publication date: Available online 6 May 2015 Source:Plasmid Author(s): Martini María Carla , Albicoro Francisco Javier , Nour Eman , Schlüter Andreas , van Elsas Jan Dirk , Springael Dirk , Smalla Kornellia , Pistorio Mariano , Lagares Antonio , Del Papa María Florencia Biopurification systems (BPS) are complex soil-related and artificially-generated environments usually designed for the removal of toxic compounds from contaminated wastewaters. The present study has been conducted to isolate and characterize a collection of cultivable plasmid-carrying bacterial isolates recovered from a BPS established for the decontamination of wastewater generated in a farmyard. Out of 1,400 isolates, a collection of 75 plasmid-containing bacteria was obtained, of which 35 representative isolates comprising in total at least 50 plasmids were chosen for further characterization. Bacterial hosts were taxonomically assigned by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and phenotypically characterized according to their ability to grow in presence of different antibiotics and heavy metals. The study demonstrated that a high proportion of the isolates was tolerant to antibiotics and/or heavy metals highlighting the on-farm BPS enrichment in such genetic traits. Several plasmids conferring such resistances in the bacterial collection were detected to be either mobilizable or selftransmissible. Occurrence of broad host range plasmids of the incompatibility groups IncP, IncQ, IncN and Inc...
Source: Plasmid - Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research