Antibiotic resistance in heavy metal resistant non-lactose fermenting Enterobacteriaceae colonies cultured from textile industry effluents

Many of the aquatic pathogenic microflora belong to the non-lactose fermenting (NLF) Enterobacteriaceae and emergence as well as the spread of antibiotic resistance in them is now a serious threat to public health worldwide. Growth of textile industries has heavily flourished acting as hub for the ready-made garments factories in Bangladesh. Textile industry effluents may contain heavy metals and it is not clear whether their disposal is strictly monitored or not and their impact on the aquatic microflora have not been properly investigated and monitored. To assess the impact of heavy metals on the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance in NLF Enterobacteriaceae, samples were collected from four different locations of drains running down effluents from five (n=5) different textile industries located in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Total bacterial counts (TBCs), minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of heavy metals, antibiotic susceptibility, binary exposure and plasmid profile experiments were performed. TBCs from day 1 to day 5 revealed that most colony forming units (CFUs) uncountable at 10-6 dilution could be counted at 10-10 dilution. A total of 100 NLF bacterial isolate