IJERPH, Vol. 17, Pages 5450: Characterization of Clostridium Perfringens Isolates Collected from Three Agricultural Biogas Plants over a One-Year Period

IJERPH, Vol. 17, Pages 5450: Characterization of Clostridium Perfringens Isolates Collected from Three Agricultural Biogas Plants over a One-Year Period International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph17155450 Authors: Lorine Derongs Céline Druilhe Christine Ziebal Caroline Le Maréchal Anne-Marie Pourcher Digestate produced by agricultural biogas plants (BGPs) may contain pathogenic bacteria. Among them, Clostridium perfringens deserves particular attention due to its ability to grow under anaerobic conditions and persist in amended soil. The aim of this study was to examine the potential pathogenicity and the antimicrobial resistance of C. perfringens in manure and digestate collected from three agricultural biogas plants (BGPs). A total of 157 isolates (92 from manure, 65 from digestate) were screened for genes encoding seven toxins (cpa, cpb, etx, iapcpe, netB, and cpb2). The 138 cpa positive isolates were then screened for tetA(P), tetB(P), tet(M), and erm(Q) genes and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. The toxinotypes identified in both manure and digestate were type A (78.3% of the isolates), type G (16.7%), type C (3.6%), and type D (1.4%), whereas none of the isolates were type F. Moreover, half of the isolates carried the cpb2 gene. The overall prevalence of tetA(P) gene alone, tetA(P)-tetB(P) genes, and erm(Q) gene was 31.9, 34.8, and 6.5%, respectively. None of the isolates harbored the tet(M) gene. Multi...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research