Assessment of ants as bacterial vector in houses
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Data
2014-03
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Resumo
Studies of arthropods have fundamental importance to identifying both ant species and microorganisms
they carry. The objective of this study was to identify ant morph species found in residences,
characterize the bacteria associated with the ants, assess bacterial resistance to antibiotics and analyze
the plasmid profiles of the microorganisms found. The ant collections were carried out in the kitchens of
50 residences in the daytime. The bacteria were quantified and the samples were confirmed for the
presence of plasmids. The data demonstrate that Pheidole sp. (74%) was the most frequent ant among
those isolated; the microbiology analysis showed that the genus Sthaphyloccocus sp. (90%) was the
most prevalent bacterial genus found on ants. This research presented a low frequency of Klebsiella sp.
(2%), Enterococcus sp. (2%) and Vibrio cholera (2%). The ants classified as Pheidole sp. and
Paratrechina sp. showed greater presence of microorganisms in the ants’ cuticule, and Pheidole sp.
was prevalent in relation to other ant species. Resistance was found to the antibiotics ampicillin,
erythromycin and penicillin. Since there was no plasmid in the samples, it can be suggested that this
tolerance is of chromosomal bacterial origin.
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Palavras-chave
Antimicrobial, Resistance, Ants, Contamination vector
Citação
SILVA, Nara Cristina; PAIVA, Mirian Martins; PESQUERO, Marcos Antônio; CARNEIRO, Lilian Carla. Assessment of ants as bacterial vector in houses. African Journal of Microbiology Research, Lagos, v. 8, n. 13, p. 1413-1418, Mar. 2014.