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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2009, p. 5814-5820, Vol. 75, No. 18
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00977-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Macrolide Resistance in Microorganisms at Antimicrobial-Free Swine Farms{triangledown}

Zhi Zhou,{dagger} Lutgarde Raskin,{ddagger} and Julie L. Zilles*

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 205 North Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801

Received 29 April 2009/ Accepted 20 July 2009

To investigate the relationship between agricultural antimicrobial use and resistance, a variety of methods for quantification of macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB) resistance were applied to organic swine farm manure samples. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to indirectly quantify the specific rRNA methylation resulting in MLSB resistance. Using this method, an unexpectedly high prevalence of ribosomal methylation and, hence, predicted MLSB resistance was observed in manure samples from two swine finisher farms that reported no antimicrobial use (37.6% ± 6.3% and 40.5% ± 5.4%, respectively). A culture-based method targeting relatively abundant clostridia showed a lower but still unexpectedly high prevalence of resistance at both farms (27.7% ± 11.3% and 11.7% ± 8.6%, respectively), while the prevalence of resistance in cultured fecal streptococci was low at both farms (4.0%). These differences in the prevalence of resistance across microorganisms suggest the need for caution when extrapolating from data obtained with indicator organisms. A third antimicrobial-free swine farm, a breeder-to-finisher operation, had low levels of MLSB resistance in manure samples with all methods used (<9%). Tetracycline antimicrobials were detected in manure samples from one of the finisher farms and may provide a partial explanation for the high level of MLSB resistance. Taken together, these findings highlight the need for a more fundamental understanding of the relationship between antimicrobial use and the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: 3204 Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory, MC250, 205 North Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801. Phone: (217) 244-2925. Fax: (217) 333-6968. E-mail: jzilles{at}illinois.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 24 July 2009.

{dagger} Present address: Carollo Engineers, 2700 Ygnacio Valley Road, Suite 300, Walnut Creek, CA 94598.

{ddagger} Present address: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, 1351 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2009, p. 5814-5820, Vol. 75, No. 18
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00977-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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