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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, May 2005, p. 1802-1807, Vol. 49, No. 5
0066-4804/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.49.5.1802-1807.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Incidence of Class 1 Integrons in a Quaternary Ammonium Compound-Polluted Environment

W. H. Gaze,1 N. Abdouslam,1 P. M. Hawkey,2 and E. M. H. Wellington1*

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom,1 University of Birmingham, Division of Immunity and Infection, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom2

Received 21 July 2004/ Returned for modification 12 September 2004/ Accepted 30 January 2005

Samples of effluent and soil were collected from a reed bed system used to remediate liquid waste from a wool finishing mill with a high use of quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) and were compared with samples of agricultural soils. Resistance quotients of aerobic gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria to ditallowdimethylammomium chloride (DTDMAC) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) were established by plating onto nutrient agar containing 5 µg/ml or 50 µg/ml DTDMAC or CTAB. Approximately 500 isolates were obtained and screened for the presence of the intI1 (class 1 integrase), qacE (multidrug efflux), and qacE{Delta}1 (attenuated qacE) genes. QAC resistance was higher in isolates from reed bed samples, and class 1 integron incidence was significantly higher for populations that were preexposed to QACs. This is the first study to demonstrate that QAC selection in the natural environment has the potential to coselect for antibiotic resistance, as class 1 integrons are well-established vectors for cassette genes encoding antibiotic resistance.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Environmental Microbiology, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 (0)24 76523184. Fax: 44 (0)24 76523701. E-mail: E.M.H.Wellington{at}warwick.ac.uk.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, May 2005, p. 1802-1807, Vol. 49, No. 5
0066-4804/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.49.5.1802-1807.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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