Molecular characterization of antibiotic resistant Salmonella isolates from Indian foods

Salmonella isolates belonging to five serovars, Salmonella enterica Ohio, S. Oslo, S. Tennessee, S. Weltevreden and S. Typhimurium, isolated during 2006-2008 from food samples like sprouts and different varieties of fresh water and marine fish were tested for antibiotic resistance. High percentages (97%) of the isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic and 82% of the isolates were resistant to more than one antibiotic. S. Oslo was the most resistant serovar and it exhibited resistance to 13 out of 16 antibiotics tested. Integron 1, which has been shown to confer multidrug resistance to various Salmonella serovars, was detected in multidrug resistant S. Oslo. PFGE studies revealed that serovars showed very high genetic diversity. The multidrug resistant S. Oslo showed unique PFGE pattern, which could be used in epidemiological studies. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.