Lucas Cecílio Vilar , Antônio Carlos Silva Rego , Marco Antônio Lemos Miguel , Rodolfo Pinheiro da Rocha Paranhos , Marinella Silva Laport , Ciro César Rossi , Marcia Giambiagi-deMarval
{"title":"Staphylococcus spp. and methicillin-resistance gene mecA dispersion in seawater: A case study of Guanabara Bay's recreational and touristic waters","authors":"Lucas Cecílio Vilar , Antônio Carlos Silva Rego , Marco Antônio Lemos Miguel , Rodolfo Pinheiro da Rocha Paranhos , Marinella Silva Laport , Ciro César Rossi , Marcia Giambiagi-deMarval","doi":"10.1016/j.cimid.2025.102326","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Environmental <em>Staphylococci</em>, particularly coagulase-negative <em>Staphylococci</em> (CoNS), are known reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes and human-animal opportunistic pathogens, yet their role within the One Health framework remains underexplored. In this study, we isolated 12 species of CoNS from two sites 10 km apart in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, with the most frequent species being the opportunistic <em>Staphylococcus saprophyticus</em> (30.3 %), <em>Staphylococcus warneri</em> (25.7 %), and <em>Staphylococcus epidermidis</em> (16.7 %). GTG<sub>5</sub>-PCR fingerprinting revealed significant genetic diversity, yet identical profiles persisted across both sites throughout the year, indicating strain dispersion and persistence. Among the 66 strains analyzed, 42 exhibited resistance to clinically significant antimicrobials, including methicillin-resistant strains harboring the <em>mecA</em> gene. Remarkably, 22.7 % of the strains carried CRISPR-Cas systems, a frequency unusually high for <em>Staphylococcus</em> spp., suggesting that bacteriophage pressure in the seawater environment may drive this increase. The presence of antimicrobial-resistant CoNS in Guanabara Bay, a popular recreational area, represents a potential public health risk.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50999,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Immunology Microbiology and Infectious Diseases","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 102326"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Comparative Immunology Microbiology and Infectious Diseases","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147957125000347","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"IMMUNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Environmental Staphylococci, particularly coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS), are known reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes and human-animal opportunistic pathogens, yet their role within the One Health framework remains underexplored. In this study, we isolated 12 species of CoNS from two sites 10 km apart in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, with the most frequent species being the opportunistic Staphylococcus saprophyticus (30.3 %), Staphylococcus warneri (25.7 %), and Staphylococcus epidermidis (16.7 %). GTG5-PCR fingerprinting revealed significant genetic diversity, yet identical profiles persisted across both sites throughout the year, indicating strain dispersion and persistence. Among the 66 strains analyzed, 42 exhibited resistance to clinically significant antimicrobials, including methicillin-resistant strains harboring the mecA gene. Remarkably, 22.7 % of the strains carried CRISPR-Cas systems, a frequency unusually high for Staphylococcus spp., suggesting that bacteriophage pressure in the seawater environment may drive this increase. The presence of antimicrobial-resistant CoNS in Guanabara Bay, a popular recreational area, represents a potential public health risk.
期刊介绍:
Comparative Immunology, Microbiology & Infectious Diseases aims to respond to the concept of "One Medicine" and to provide a venue for scientific exchange. Based on the concept of "Comparative Medicine" interdisciplinary cooperation between specialists in human and animal medicine is of mutual interest and benefit. Therefore, there is need to combine the respective interest of physicians, veterinarians and other health professionals for comparative studies relevant to either human or animal medicine .
The journal is open to subjects of common interest related to the immunology, immunopathology, microbiology, parasitology and epidemiology of human and animal infectious diseases, especially zoonotic infections, and animal models of human infectious diseases. The role of environmental factors in disease emergence is emphasized. CIMID is mainly focusing on applied veterinary and human medicine rather than on fundamental experimental research.