High prevalence of antibiotic resistance and biofilm formation in Salmonella Gallinarum

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Antibiotic resistance is an indicator of the passively acquired and circulating resistance genes. Salmonella Gallinarum significantly affects the poultry food industry. The present study is the first study of the S. Gallinarum biofilm in Iran, which is focused on the characterization of the S. Gallinarum serovars and their acquired antibiotic resistance genes circulating in poultry fields in central and northwestern Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty isolates of S. Gallinarum serovar were collected from feces of live poultry. The bacteria were isolated using biochemical tests and confirmed by Multiplex PCR. Biofilm formation ability and the antibacterial resistance were evaluated using both phenotypic and genotypic methods. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS: According to Multiplex PCR for ratA, SteB, and rhs genes, all 60 S. Gallinarum serovars were Gallinarum biovars. In our study, the antibiotic resistance rate among isolated strains was as follows: Penicillin (100%), nitrofurantoin (80%), nalidixic acid (45%), cefoxitin (35%), neomycin sulfate (30%), chloramphenicol (20%), and ciprofloxacin (5%). All isolates were susceptible to imipenem, ertapenem, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, and ceftazidime+clavulanic acid. All sixty isolates did not express the resistance genes IMP, VIM, NDM, DHA, bla(OXA48), and qnrA. On the other hand, they expressed GES (85%), qnrB (75%), Fox M (70%), SHV (60%), CITM (20%), KPC (15%), FOX (10%), MOXM (5%), and qnrS (5%). All S. Gallinarum isolates formed biofilm and expressed sdiA gene. CONCLUSION: Considering that the presence of this bacteria is equal to the death penalty to the herd, the distribution of resistance genes could be a critical alarm for pathogen monitoring programs in the region. This study showed a positive correlation between biofilm formation and 50% of tested resistance genes. Also, it was found that the most common circulating S. gallinarum biovars are multidrug-resistant.