Antimicrobial resistance pattern of microorganisms isolated and identified from Godavari River across the mass gathering event

Abstract

The Kumbh Mela is considered the world's largest mass gathering event (MGE). It represents a unique anthropogenic burden on the river ecosystem and may confer antimicrobial resistance among microbial communities. The present study explains the characterization of microbial isolates associated with Godavari River under the advent of the mass bathing event using culture dependent approach. The isolates were identified by sequencing of 16S rRNA gene and ITS region. Further, the isolates were screened for antibiotic susceptibility against 22 antibiotics using disc diffusion method. A total of 63 bacterial and 21 fungal isolates were isolated under the temporal variation of the event. Kocuria and Staphylococcus were the most prevalent bacterial genera in the samples collected before and during the event, while Meyerozyma and Candida predominate among fungal communities. A group of antibiotics impeding the bacterial protein synthesis were found to be most effective against greater than or equal to 67% of bacterial isolates. However, greater than or equal to 37-67% of isolates could escape the action of inhibitors of bacterial cell wall synthesis. Moreover, bacterial isolates belonging to genera Acinetobacter, Corynebacterium and Brevibacterium showed higher resistance towards the antibiotics. Observations from the current study suggest likely microbial taxa as targets to mitigate the waterborne infections during the MGE.