Bacteria culturing and isolation under field conditions of Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon, and preliminary survey on bacteria carrying antibiotic resistance genes

Abstract

Culturing the intestinal bacteria of wild animals is a difficult task under field conditions, although isolation and characterization of bacteria are absolutely necessary to evaluate the transmission of bacteria from human to animal or vice versa. We have developed a protocol for intestinal bacteria culturing from feces of wild animals such as gorillas in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park in Gabon, where no laboratory settings were available. The prevalence of resistance genes in Enterobacteriaceae isolates estimated by real time PCR array was higher for aminoglycosides resistance, followed by tetracycline resistance, except for possible naturally occurring β-lactam resistance. The detection level of resistance genes was higher for isolates from humans than those from gorillas. Occasional monitoring of this prevalence may help to measure the intensity of introduction of human-borne bacteria to wildlife.