Characterization of putative pathogenic Shewanella algae isolated from ballast water

Vet World Vol.14 March-2021 Article-18

Research Article

Veterinary World, 14(3): 678-688

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.678-688

Nik Nuraznida Nik Ibrahim¹, Nurathirah Mat Nasir¹, Fathul Karim Sahrani², Asmat Ahmad¹, and Fareed Sairi¹

1. Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
2. Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

Background and Aim: Shewanella algae is ubiquitous in marine-associated environments and has been increasingly recognized as a significant human pathogen that can cause serious infections mainly associated with exposure to seawater and ingestion of raw seafood. This study aimed to isolate and characterize S. algae from ballast water of ships berthed at Port Klang, Malaysia.

Materials and Methods: Ballast water was sampled from nine ships docked at Port Klang, Malaysia. The isolates were identified and characterized based on biochemical and enzymatic properties, 16S rRNA and gyrB sequencing, biofilm formation capability, and antibiotic susceptibility.

Results: A total of four S. algae isolates were isolated from four ballast water samples tentatively name Sa-BW1, Sa-BW2, Sa-BW7, and Sa-BW8. All isolates showed positive reaction for cytochrome oxidase, catalase, high tolerance to NaCl (6% and 8%), ability to grow at 42°C, and on Salmonella-Shigella agar. The strains also exhibited β-hemolytic activity on sheep blood and human blood agar, positive reaction for lipase, protease, DNase and gelatinase, strong biofilm adherence capabilities and multiple antibiotic resistances against ampicillin, carbenicillin, cephalothin, colistin, novobiocin, oxacillin, penicillin, rifampicin, and tobramycin which suggested their potential pathogenicity.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated the occurrence of putative pathogen S. algae in ballast water of ships docked at Malaysian port. Keywords: ballast water, extracellular enzymes, putative pathogen, Shewanella algae.

Keywords: ballast water, extracellular enzymes, putative pathogen, Shewanella algae.

How to cite this article: Ibrahim NNN, Nasir NM, Sahrani FK, Ahmad A, Sairi F (2021) Characterization of putative pathogenic Shewanella algae isolated from ballast water, Veterinary World, 14(3):678-688.

Received: 29-09-2020 Accepted: 04-02-2021 Published online: 19-03-2021

Corresponding author: Fareed Sairi E-mail: fareed@ukm.edu.my

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.678-688

Copyright: Ibrahim NNN, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.