Distribution and antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli and Enterococci isolated from fecal soil in Ny-Alesund, the Arctic

A total of 85 isolates of Escherichia coli and 84 isolates of Enterococci were screened from one bird faeces and eight deer manure located in Ny-Alesund, Arctic of the fifth Arctic scientific expedition, using the membrane filtration method.Eighty-four Enterococci isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus ratti, Enterococcus avium, Enterococcus hirae, Entercoccus villorum, Entercoccus saccharolyticus, Entercoccus flavescens, Entercoccus dispar, Entercoccus sulfureus and Entercoccus PNS-E2 in ten genera.In addition, antimicrobial susceptibilites of isolates were determined through the K-B disk diffusion method.Among the 85 E.coli isolates, the resistant frequence to rifampicin and ampicillin was 100% and 81%, respectively. E.coli isolates were highly sensitive to trimethoprim (TMP), nalidixic acid (NAL), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and tetracycline (TCY). E.faecium isolates were resistant to 11 antibiotics, which of ampicillin resistant rate was highest (89%), of vancomycin resistance was the lowest (4%).Ten E.avium isolates were resistant to rifampicin.Among the 28 E.ratti isolates, 21 isolates were resistant to streptomycin with the highest rate, while the rifampicin resistance was the lowest (4%).The remaining 18 isolates of Enterococci were resistant to 7 common used antibiotics with the highest resistant rate (61%) to rifampicin.The above results suggested that antibiotic resistance occurred in the rectal microbial flora of local wildlife in Arctic.