RIT668 and RIT669-Potential Zoonotic Pathogens Isolated from Spotted Turtles.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century, and biofilm formation enables bacteria to resist antibiotic at much higher concentrations than planktonic cells. Earlier, we showed that the Gram-negative RIT668 and RIT669 (closely related to NBRC 12681) from infected spotted turtles (), formed biofilms and upregulated toxin expression on plastic surfaces, and were predicted to possess multiple antibiotic resistance genes. Here, we show that they each resist several antibiotics in the planktonic phase, but were susceptible to neomycin, and high concentrations of tetracycline and cotrimoxazole.

Expression of a Shiga-Like Toxin during Plastic Colonization by Two Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria, RIT668 and RIT669, Isolated from Endangered Turtles ().

RIT668 and RIT669 were isolated from endangered spotted turtles (). Whole-genome sequencing, annotation and phylogenetic analyses of the genomes revealed that the closest relative of RIT668 is ATCC 7966 and A60 for RIT669. Resistome analysis showed that and harbor six and 19 different antibiotic resistance genes, respectively.