Detection of β-lactamase encoding genes in feces, soil and water from a Brazilian pig farm

beta-lactam antibiotics are widely used for the treatment of different types of infections world-wide and the resistance to these antibiotics has grown sharply, which is of great concern. Resistance to beta-lactams in gram-negative bacteria is mainly due to the production of beta-lactamases, which are classified according to their functional activities. The aim of this study was to verify the presence of beta-lactamases encoding genes in feces, soil, and water from a Brazilian pig farm. Different beta-lactamases encoding genes were found, including bla(CTX-M-Gp1), bla(CTX-M-Gp9), bla(SHV), bla(OXA-1-like), bla(GES), and bla(VEB). The bla(SHV) and bla(CTX-M-Gp1) genes have been detected in all types of samples, indicating the spread of beta-lactam resistant bacteria among farm pigs and the environment around them. These results indicate that beta-lactamase encoding genes belonging to the cloxacillinase, ESBL, and carbapenemase and they have high potential to spread in different sources, due to the fact that genes are closely related to mobile genetic elements, especially plasmids.