Water plays an important role in the transmission of Arcobacter spp. to animals and humans. The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize Arcobacter spp. from 115 different water samples (66 sewage, 25 rivers, 16 spring water, and 8 drinking water) in Izmir, Turkey. In total, 41 samples (35.7 %) were found positive for Arcobacter spp. by the genus-specific PCR. Arcobacter butzleri was detected in 39 out of 115 samples (33.9 %) including 24 sewage, 13 rivers, and 2 spring water. The remaining Arcobacter spp. (n = 2) isolates could not be identified by m-PCR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Based on the phenotypic characterization, most of the Arcobacter species (87.8 %) indicated weak catalase activity. In addition, there were differences in phenotypic patterns among isolated species during growth at 37 °C under microaerobic and aerobic conditions, in the presence of 2 % (39/41) and 3.5 % (32/41) NaCl and 0.04 % TTC (39/41) and on MacConkey agar (38/41). The results of this study indicated that environmental water samples are common sources for Arcobacter spp. Therefore, effective control measures should be taken to protect human health.
- MeSH
- Aerobiosis MeSH
- Arcobacter classification genetics growth & development isolation & purification MeSH
- Sodium Chloride metabolism MeSH
- DNA, Bacterial chemistry genetics MeSH
- Culture Media chemistry MeSH
- Water Microbiology * MeSH
- DNA, Ribosomal chemistry genetics MeSH
- RNA, Ribosomal, 16S genetics MeSH
- Sequence Analysis, DNA MeSH
- Bacterial Typing Techniques MeSH
- Temperature MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Turkey MeSH
The aim of this study was to examine 634 samples of chicken, lamb, pork, beef, fish, samples from the intensive animal industry and from poultry for slaughter, as well as from the domestic breeding of poultry, horses, pigs, and lambs, from surface water, and from clinical samples for the presence of Arcobacter. All the samples were examined with a cultivation method, followed by confirmation by multiplex PCR. The method of multiplex PCR applied directly to a liquid medium after enrichment was applied only to the samples with the highest probability of the presence of arcobacters. Arcobacter spp. were detected in 11.8% of the samples, of which A. butzleri, A. cryaerophilus, and A. skirrowii were found in 6.6, 5.1, and 0.2% of the samples, respectively. The sources of the arcobacters were chicken meat from the retail market, intensive animal production facilities, domestic chicken breeding facilities, lamb raising environments, surface water and wastewater, and beef swabs taken in a meat processing factory. No occurrence of arcobacters was identified in the swabs from slaughter turkeys, ducks, and wild poultry. No arcobacters were found in horse and pig breeding environments, on pork, or on the swabs of fish. Forty-two rectal swabs taken from humans were also free of Arcobacter. Seventeen isolates of Arcobacter were further identified by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene. Varied genotypes were observed among A. butzleri from chicken meat and chicken breeds, and A. cryaerophilus from wastewater and chicken breeds. They were similar to the genotypes present in wastewater, porcine feces, human stool, and human blood obtained from databases. Our results revealed that the chicken meat from the retail market is an important source of arcobacters. Cross-contamination during handling of chicken carcass practices could play a key role in the spread of Arcobacter.
- MeSH
- Arcobacter isolation & purification classification MeSH
- Species Specificity MeSH
- Financing, Organized MeSH
- Food Contamination analysis MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Food Handling methods MeSH
- Meat microbiology MeSH
- Colony Count, Microbial MeSH
- Polymerase Chain Reaction methods MeSH
- Seafood microbiology MeSH
- Food Microbiology MeSH
- Prevalence MeSH
- Consumer Product Safety MeSH
- Bacterial Typing Techniques methods MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
