Antibiotic resistance of bacteria isolated from the internal organs of edible snow crabs

PLoS One. 2013 Aug 21;8(8):e70887. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070887. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance and microbiota within edible snow crabs are important for the Chionoecetes (snow crab) fishing industry. We investigated these parameters using culture methods and antibiotic susceptibility tests with six internal organs from three species of Chionoecetes. Each sample revealed many unexpected microbial species within Chionoecetes internal organs. On the basis of 16S rRNA sequence analysis of 381 isolates, the most abundant genera identified in Chionoecetes opilio were Acinetobacter spp. (24%), Bacillus spp. (4%), Pseudomonas spp. (34%), Stenotrophomonas spp. (28%), and Agreia spp. (11%). In Chionoecetes sp. crabs, Acinetobacter spp. (23%), Bacillus spp. (12%), and Psychrobacter spp. (20%) were most prevalent, while Agreia spp. (11%), Bacillus spp. (31%), Microbacterium spp. (10%), Rhodococcus spp. (12%), and Agrococcus spp. (6%) were most abundant in C. japonicus. Our antibiotic resistance test found resistance to all nine antibiotics tested in 19, 14, and two of the isolates from C. opilio, Chionoecetes sp., and, C. japonicus respectively. Our results are the first to show that microbes with antibiotic resistance are widely distributed throughout the internal organs of natural snow crabs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acinetobacter / drug effects
  • Acinetobacter / genetics
  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Bacillus / drug effects
  • Bacillus / genetics
  • Brachyura / microbiology*
  • DNA Primers
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial*
  • Phylogeny
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Pseudomonas / drug effects
  • Pseudomonas / genetics
  • Psychrobacter / drug effects
  • Psychrobacter / genetics
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Rhodococcus / drug effects
  • Rhodococcus / genetics
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Species Specificity
  • Stenotrophomonas / drug effects
  • Stenotrophomonas / genetics

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • DNA Primers
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Gyeongsangbuk-Do Province and Uljin-Gun's research grant. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.