Isolation and molecular identification of washing machine bacteria and study of the effect of some detergents on their growth

Abstract

This study aimed to isolate, molecular identify, and evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the three commercial types of household detergents; Persil (P), Arial (A), and Peros (Pe) in both forms of gel liquid and (Tate ) powder and antibiotics susceptibility test to assessed against isolates from used washing machines in Mosul city/ Iraq. A total of 46 bacterial isolates were isolated. Five isolates were designated as Kh-Am1, Kh-Am4 from the Drum part, Kh-Am3, Kh-Am6 from the Rubber door seal part and Kh-Am5 from Drain dictum; these isolates were selected for molecular identification by 16S rRNA. The 16S rRNA gene of Kh-Am1, Kh-Am3, Kh-Am4, Kh-Am5 and Kh-Am6. The disc agar diffusion method was adopted for each selected isolate using stock and diluted concentrations. After incubation at 37ₒC for 24 hours, inhibition of Aerea was recorded. The results showed that the powder and gel form detergent stock solution has more inhibitory efficacy for the assayed isolates than dilutions. Susceptibility to antibiotics assay revealed that almost all the selected isolates were resistant. Even though infectious strains were not found, opportunistic pathogens were detected. However, because many bacteria have been detected in wash water, washing items at home with it may result in microbial contamination. Keywords: Washing machine bacteria, Washing machine environment, Detergents effect on bacteria, Antibiotic Susceptibility of washing machine bacteria.