Keywords
How to Cite
Abstract
Background
The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in environmental microbial populations is posing a growing threat to public health. Besides, the particular locations such as hospital environments, local niches can also serve as the source of initiating risk of antimicrobial resistance among gram positive bacteria against commonly used antibiotics hence, developing resistance in pathogens of humans such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli etc.
Objective
This research determined to study the prevalence and resistance patterns of gram positive bacteria isolated from kitchen vegetable wastes, in order to evaluate their potential role as environmental reservoirs of antibiotic resistance.
Methods
A total of thirty microbial strains were isolated and their morphological and biochemical characterization was performed. The antibiotic susceptibility profiling was performed via antibiotic disc diffusion assay on Muller Hinton agar. Then, zones of inhibition were measured based on CLSI guidelines and index of multidrug resistance of isolates was calculated.
Results
All isolates were gram positive, twenty-eight strains were catalase positive and few were oxidase positive. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing via disc diffusion method displayed high prevalence of resistance to cefotaxime, obtaining no zone of inhibition, indicated widespread β-lactam resistance. In contrast, a number of isolated strains were also sensitive to chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin, while gentamicin showed intermediate susceptibility in most strains. A few isolates displaying partial resistance patterns, resulted in low multidrug resistance (MDR) indices, although early signs of reduced susceptibility were prominent. Functional assays illustrated that eleven isolates exhibited phosphate solubilization, while ten isolates demonstrated nitrate reduction activity, indicating metabolic diversity. Five isolates (E2, E3, E4, O1, P3) were positive producers of hydrogen cyanide (HCN).
Conclusion
Overall, the findings reveal that kitchen vegetable waste possess diverse antimicrobial resistant gram positive bacteria, particularly to β-lactams. This therefore, underscores the importance of domestic waste environments in maintaining antimicrobial resistance, and thus calls for environmental monitoring and sustainable waste management strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance dissemination.