Bacterial Skin Microbiota of Seabass from Aegean Fish Farms and Antibiotic Susceptibility of Psychrotrophic Pseudomonas

Aydın A., Sudagıdan M., Mamatova Z., Yurt M. N. Z., Özalp V. C., Zornu J., ...More

FOODS, vol.11, no.12, pp.1-18, 2023 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 11 Issue: 12
  • Publication Date: 2023
  • Doi Number: 10.3390/foods12101956
  • Journal Name: FOODS
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, CAB Abstracts, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, Veterinary Science Database, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Page Numbers: pp.1-18
  • Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

 Farming seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is an essential activity in the Mediterranean basin 16 including the Aegean Sea. The main seabass producer is Turkey accounting for 155 151 tons of production in 2021. In this study, skin swabs of seabass farmed in the Aegean Sea were analysed with regard to the isolation and identification of Pseudomonas. Bacterial microbiota of skin samples (n=96) from 12 fish farms were investigated by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and metabarcoding  analysis. The results demonstrated that Proteobacteria was the dominant bacterial phylum in all samples. At the species level, Pseudomonas lundensis was identified in all samples. Pseudomonas, Shewanella, and Flavobacterium were identified by conventional methods and a total of 46 viable (48% of all NGS+) Pseudomonas were isolated in seabass swab samples. Additionally, antibiotic susceptibility  was determined according to the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) and Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) in psychrophilic Pseudomonas. Pseudomonas strains were tested for susceptibility to 11 antibiotics (piperacillin-tazobactam, gentamicin, tobramycin, amikacin, doripenem, meropenem, imipenem, levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, and tetracycline) from 5 different groups of antibiotics (penicillin, aminoglycosides, carbapenems, fluoroquinolones, and tetracyclines). The antibiotics chosen were not specifically related to usage by the aquaculture industry. According to the EUCAST and CLSI results, three out of 6 and two out of 13 Pseudomonas strains, were found to be resistant to doripenem and imipenem, respectively. All strains were susceptible to piperacillin-tazobactam, amikacin, levofloxacin, and tetracycline. Our data provide insight into different bacteria, that are prevalent in the skin microbiota in/on seabass sampled from the Aegean Sea in Turkey, and into the antibiotic resistance of psychrophilic Pseudomonas spp.