Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance from Clinical Isolates of Serratia spp. to E.coli

Fifty clinical samples ( 20 Urinary Tract Infections, 20 wounds and 10 septicemia) were collected from Al-Salam general hospital in Mosul/ Iraq, and examined for Serratia spp. Diagnosis was done by conventional biochemical tests and confirmed by the API20E system (BioMeurix). Seven S. odorifera1 and three S. marcescens were identified. All ten strains were resistant to Ampicillin, Cefalexin, Chloramphenicol, Gentamycin and Tertracycline. Plasmid DNA was purified from five Serratia isolates and used to transform the Ampicillin - sensitive E. coli JM83 to Ampicillin resistant. Transformants were obtained at a frequency of (0.2-0.5)x10-4. Three S. marcescens and two S. odorifera1 were used to donate the antibiotic resistance to E. coli JM83 and E. coli JMP294. The frequency of conjugants ranged between (7-30)x 10-6. This indicates that resistance can transfer from pathogenic to non-pathogenic strains. This could constitute a serious heath problem to the public health.