Use of the PCR-DGGE Method for the Analysis of the Bacterial Community Structure in Soil Treated With the Cephalosporin Antibiotic Cefuroxime and/or Inoculated With a Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas…

Kamila Orlewska, Zofia Piotrowska-Seget, Mariusz Cycoń

The widespread use of cefuroxime (XM) has resulted in the increase in its concentration in hospital and domestic wastewaters. Due to the limited removal of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant genes in conventional systems, the drugs enter the surface water and soils. Moreover, the introduction of XM and/or XM-resistant bacteria into soil may cause a significant modification of the biodiversity of soil bacterial communities. Therefore, the goal of this research was to assess the genetic diversity of a bacterial community in the cefuroxime (XM1 - 1 mg/kg and XM10 - 10 mg/kg) and/or antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas putida strain MC1 (Ps - 1.6 × 107 cells/g)-treated soils as determined by the DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) method. The obtained data were also evaluated using a multivariate analysis and the resistance (RS)/resilience (RL) concept. Strain MC1 was isolated from raw sewage in the presence of XM and was resistant not only to this antibiotic but also to vancomycin, clindamycin and erythromycin. The DGGE patterns revealed that the XM10 and XM10+Ps treatments modified the composition of the bacterial community by the alteration of the DGGE profiles as well as a decline in the DGGE indices, in particular on days 30, 60, and 90. In turn, the XM1 and XM1+Ps or Ps treatments did not affect the values of richness and diversity of the soil bacteria members. A principal component analysis (PCA) also indicated that XM markedly changed the diversity of bacterial assemblages in the second part of the experiment. Moreover, there were differences in the RS/RL of the DGGE indices to the disturbances caused by XM and/or Ps. Considering the mean values of the RS index, the resistance was categorized in the following order: diversity (0.997) > evenness (0.993) > richness (0.970). The soil RL index was found to be negative, thus reflecting the progressing detrimental impact of XM on the genetic biodiversity of bacteria within the experiment. These results indicate that the introduction of XM at higher dosages into the soil environment may exert a potential risk for functioning of microorganism.