Epidermidis
Epidermidis
1-10
Abstract
S
taphylococcus epidermidis is one of the causative agents of mass mortality in farmed Nile
tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in Kafr Elsheikh Governorate, Egypt. Diseased farmed Nile
tilapia were collected randomly during the fall of 2023 from farms suffering from mass
mortalities. Clinical examination revealed severe lesions in the hepatopancreas and eye of the
collected diseased fish. Based on morphological and biochemical analyses, the isolated bacteria were
suggested to be Staphylococcus sp. Five of the nine isolates were selected for 16S rRNA sequencing
based on their consistent phenotypic characterization criteria. One isolate was found to be Bacillus
rugosus based on the 16S rRNA sequencing, which is non-pathogenic and out of the scope of this
study. The four remaining isolates were found to be S. epidermidis, which have similarities to other S.
epidermidis isolates. All isolated S. epidermidis were resistant to ampicillin, erythromycin,
chloramphenicol, streptomycin, and amoxicillin; however, they were moderately susceptible to
tetracycline and were sensitive to gentamicin and vancomycin.
Keywords: Nile tilapia, S. epidermidis, 16S rRNA, Phylogenetic analysis, Antibiogram.
symptoms, as many bacterial pathogens can cause normal saline solution was used to rinse the external
similar clinical signs [9]. For example, while surface of the fish, followed by spraying with 70%
infections caused by S. epidermidis, Streptococcus ethyl alcohol. Under complete aseptic conditions,
agalactiae, and Aeromonas veronii are commonly fish were dissected, and then a loopful of tissues
associated with exophthalmos and A. hydrophila or from the kidney, spleen, and hepatopancreas were
A. veronii cause congestion to the hepatopancreas, it separately streaked onto tryptic soy agar (TSA),
is important to note that these pathogens can (HiMedia, India). Inoculated agar plates were
potentially cause overlapping lesions, as supported incubated at 25 °C for 24-48 hours. Single colonies
by previous records [10, 11]. To address those were selected for purification and further
challenges, 16S rRNA sequencing has become a characterization.
cornerstone in reliable and accurate identification for
Phenotypic characterization
fast detection and diagnosis of bacterial diseases
[12]. Morphological characterizations, such as shape,
size, Gram staining, and motility tests, were
Due to the intensification of modern technologies
performed on suspected pure colonies of the isolates
in aquaculture, disease prevalence has increased, and
[17]. Biochemical identification was conducted for
new pathogenic bacteria have emerged that are
confirmation of isolates using the following tests:
detrimental to fish health. This situation previously
coagulase, catalase, oxidase, Methyl Red (MR),
led to the extensive use of antibiotics, particularly in
Vogues Proskauer (VR), citrate, urease, and nitrate
developing countries, for the prophylaxis or
reduction [18]. The hemolytic activity of bacterial
management of bacterial infections in fish; however,
isolates was assessed by inoculating an aliquot of an
this practice has significantly declined in Egypt in
overnight bacterial suspension onto blood agar plates
recent years [13].
containing 5% sterile defibrinated sheep blood,
This work aimed to assess the prevalence of S. according to the described method by Ruaro et al.
epidermidis in diseased O. niloticus collected from [19]. The plates were then incubated for 24 hours at
cultured freshwater farms. It also aimed to construct 25 °C.
a phylogenetic tree based on the 16S rRNA
Identification of the isolates using 16S rRNA
sequencing of the four isolates and test their
sequencing
antibiotic susceptibility.
DNA extraction and purification
Material and Methods
The genomic DNA was extracted using the
Collection of fish samples
described procedure by Monir et al. [20]. The
Fifty samples diseased O. niloticus, averaging isolated bacteria were sub-cultured onto TSA plates
150–200 g in weight, were randomly collected to produce a fresh overnight culture. A single colony
between September and November 2023 from ten from the subculture was inoculated into 10 mL of
different fish farms in Kafr Elsheikh Governorate tryptic soy broth (TSB) and incubated at 25 °C for 24
that experienced mass mortalities and placed in hours. The fresh culture was centrifuged at 5000 rpm
sterile bags [14]. All samples were transferred within for ten minutes. Next, 400 μl of solution I (50 mM
6 hours of collection in an icebox with crushed ice to Tris.HCl pH-8.0, 50 mM EDTA pH-8.0, 25%
the Biotechnology lab, Basic and Applied Sciences sucrose, 1 mg lysozyme) were added to the washed
Institute, Egypt-Japan University of Science and cell pellet, thoroughly mixed, and incubated at 37 °C
Technology (E-JUST). for 15 minutes. The cells were treated with 400 μl of
solution II (10 mM Tris. HCl pH 8.0, 5 mM EDTA
Clinical and postmortem examination
pH 8.0, 1% SDS, 40 µg Proteinase K) and incubated
A clinical examination was applied to the fish at 55 °C for 3 hours. The suspension was then
samples, both external signs and post-mortem centrifuged at 6,000 rpm for 10 minutes. The
examination on the diseased fish following the aqueous layer on top was carefully removed to avoid
methods described by Heil [15]. protein debris and transferred to a new microfuge
Bacterial isolation tube. To precipitate the DNA, ice-cooled ethanol was
added to the aqueous phase twice. The DNA was
Bacterial isolation was performed according to pelletized by centrifugation at 12000 rpm for 10
the methods described by Metin et al. [16]. A sterile minutes. The pellet was rinsed with 70% ethanol,
dried, and dissolved in 100 µl of TE buffer (pH 7.6). Clinical signs of infected fish were recorded,
The quality (A260/A280) of purified PCR products including exophthalmia (pop-eye), hemorrhage, and
was measured using a Nanodrop spectrophotometer. abdominal distension. The post-mortem examination
showed congestion of the hepatopancreas and spleen,
Sequencing of 16S rRNA
and distended gall bladder (Fig. 1).
Five of the nine isolates were selected for 16S
Bacterial isolation and identification
rRNA sequencing based on their consistent
phenotypic characterization criteria. The 16S rRNA The cultural characteristics of suspected
sequencing was performed by FASMAC (Kanagawa, Staphylococcus spp. were examined, and they
Japan). Briefly, the 16S rRNA gene fragment was appeared to be white-raised, cohesive colonies on
amplified with PCR using the 27F/1492R primer. TSA.
BLASTn was used for the sequence analysis by
Prevalence of S. epidermidis
putting the sequences as queries to Genbank to
confirm the identities and closest relatives of the A total of 8 out of 50 examined fishes were
samples [21]. infected by S. epidermidis (The overall prevalence
was 16%).
Phylogenetic analysis of isolates
Characteristics of isolated Staphylococcus spp.
Multiple sequences were aligned using ClustalW
in Mega 11.0. Then, the sequences of S. epidermidis Table 2 illustrates the phenotypic characteristics
and the most closely related sequences of bacteria in and biochemical identification of Staphylococci spp.
GenBank were compared (Table 1). The Maximum recovered from internal organs of diseased Nile
Likelihood approach was implemented in Mega 11.0 tilapia. The isolates were Gram-positive, cocci, and
to infer phylogenetic relationships [22]. The non-motile. They were positive for the catalase,
confidence level in the Maximum Likelihood method urease, and nitrate reduction tests. The isolated
trees was determined by analyzing 1,000 bootstrap bacteria were coagulase negative and showed no
repetitions using the Mega software. hemolysis on sheep blood agar.
An antibiotic susceptibility test was conducted on Nine bacteria were isolated from 50 diseased Nile
isolates of S. epidermidis using the disc diffusion tilapia samples cultivated on TSA and subsequently
Kirby-Bauer technique on Mueller-Hinton agar [23]. identified through biochemical and phenotypic
The following antibiotics were tested: Ampicillin assays. Based on consistent phenotypic
(10µg), Tetracycline (30µg), Erythromycin (20µg), characterization criteria, five isolates were selected
Chloramphenicol (30µg), Gentamycin (10µg), for 16S rRNA sequencing.
Vancomycin (30µg), Streptomycin (30µg), and The results of the 16S rRNA sequencing revealed
Amoxicillin (10µg). The discs were firmly placed on that one isolate was identified as Bacillus rugosus,
the agar plates previously streaked with the test which is non-pathogenic and irrelevant to this study.
organism (0.5 McFarland) using sterile forceps and Its nucleotide sequence has been deposited in the
then incubated at 37 °C for 18-24 hours. GenBank database under the accession number
Susceptibility or resistance of the isolates to different PQ865795.
antibiotics was indicated by the appearance or non-
appearance of clear zones of inhibition, which were The remaining four sequenced isolates were
measured to the nearest millimeter using a vernier identified as S. epidermidis, and their 16S rRNA
ruler. The diameters of the zone of inhibition were gene nucleotide sequences have been submitted to
compared with the cut-off points, and the the GenBank database under the following accession
interpretations of the results were performed numbers: PP781962.1, PP781976.1, PP781979.1,
according to the recommendations of the Clinical and and PP781988.1, respectively.
Laboratory Standards Institute [24]. Phylogenetic analysis of the four sequenced S.
Results epidermidis compared to the bacterial isolates
archived in the NCBI
Clinical pathology
The phylogenetic tree (Fig. 2) was generated by
aligning the sequences of our isolates with those
recorded in Table 1. It illustrates the strains of S. The data presented in table 2 align with established
epidermidis that have been isolated from a variety of literature, confirming the prevalence of S.
sources, such as fish farms, natural fisheries, and fish epidermidis in the freshwater aquatic environment
[29].
products.
The phylogenetic tree of the four S. epidermidis
The first isolate, S. epidermidis strain AS1 reveals high evolutionary similarities, despite their
(PP781962.1), has a nucleotide sequence that is isolation from different fish farms in Kafr Elsheikh
99.63% the same as the reference isolate, S. Governorate. That similarity indicates the incidence
epidermidis strain B7, which was found in Shidal, of S. epidermidis in Nile tilapia's fish farms. Most
India and has the GenBank entry number KP979596. farms were irrigated with water from the same canal
The second strain of S. epidermidis we found, AS2 used for wastewater drainage, which facilitates
reinfection and exacerbates the spread of S.
(PP781976.1), is 99.77% similar to the reference
epidermidis in the farms. Contamination from
strain of S. epidermidis, LGC 305, which was found livestock feces and feed wastes deteriorates irrigation
in the gut of a freshwater Indian loach (GenBank water quality, making it difficult to decrease the risk
accession number OQ271316.1). Two of our S. of water contamination with microbes [30]. Fish
epidermidis isolates, AS3 (PP781979.1) and AS4 hatcheries can be sources of infection for fish farms,
(PP781988.1), are 99.86% and 99.93% identical with mainly because they produce and distribute fries to
the reference strain found in Chinese fermented fish various aquaculture facilities. Without strict
biosecurity measures, pathogens like bacteria,
(GenBank entry number MH491958.1).
viruses, fungi, and parasites can be introduced and
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing spread through contaminated water, equipment, or
fish stocks [31]. S. epidermidis was one of the
All eight isolated S. epidermidis samples were common bacterial causes of mortality in tilapia fries
subjected to an antibiogram test utilizing the disc collected from hatcheries in Kafr Elsheikh
diffusion method to determine their antimicrobial Governorate [32].
susceptibility profiles. The results in Figure 3 show
that all S. epidermidis isolates were sensitive to The phylogenetic tree (Figure 2) illustrates that
gentamycin and vancomycin while being moderately the four representative bacterial strains isolated from
susceptible to tetracyclines. Additionally, all isolates Nile tilapia in this study show a significant degree of
were resistant to ampicillin, erythromycin, similarity to 33 GenBank S. epidermidis strains
chloramphenicol, streptomycin, and amoxicillin. associated with fish, their habitats, and fish products
(GenBank entry number MH491958.1). from various countries.
Fig.1. Unilateral exophthalmia in infected farmed Nile tilapia observed in a suspected S. epidermidis case
Characters Result
Gram stain +
Motility -
Shape Cocci
Coagulase -
Catalase +
Oxidase -
Methyl Red (MR) -
Voges Proskauer (VR) -
Citrate -
Urease +
Nitrate Reduction +
Hemolysis -
(+) Positive reaction, (-): Negative reaction
TABLE 3. Summary of the prevalence of S. epidermidis in some previous studies compared to the current study
(41)
ON332486.1 Staphylococcus epidermidis strain MH-JMC16
(38)
KC161905.1 Staphylococcus epidermidis strain CL1108
(39) MN923048.1 Staphylococcus epidermidis strain VSUF1
Fig.2. Phylogenetic tree of isolates compared to recorded isolates showing Evolutionary analysis
Phylogenetic tree of chosen members of S. epidermidis based on 16S rRNA sequences. The GenBank accession numbers for
every sequence that constitutes the analysis are provided before the taxon names. The red color shows the sequences found in
this study. The evolutionary history was inferred using the Maximum Likelihood method and Hasegawa-Kishino-Yano
model. The tree with the highest log likelihood (-7703.26) is shown. Initial tree(s) for the heuristic search were obtained
automatically by applying Neighbor-Join and BioNJ algorithms to a matrix of pairwise distances estimated using the
Maximum Composite Likelihood (MCL) approach, and then selecting the topology with superior log likelihood value. A
discrete Gamma distribution was used to model evolutionary rate differences among sites (5 categories (+G, parameter =
1.9541)). This analysis involved 37 nucleotide sequences. There were a total of 1996 positions in the final dataset.
25
20
Mean Inhibition Zone (mm)
15 Isolate 1
Isolate 2
Isolate 3
10
Isolate 4
Isolate 5
Isolate 6
5
Isolate 7
Isolate 8
0
Antibiotics
Fig.3. Antibiogram test for S. epidermidis against all the tested antibiotics under study
R: Resistant (0-12 mm), I: Intermediate (13- 17 mm), S: Susceptible (≥17 mm)
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الملخص
ّ أحذ انؼٕايم انًسببت نهُفٕق اندًاػي في أسًاك انبهطي انُيهي انًسخزرػStaphylococcus epidermidis ح َؼذُّ بكخيزيا
يٍ أسًاك انبهطي انُيهي انًصابّ يٍ انًزارع2223 حى خًغ ػيُاث ػشٕائيت فٗ خزيف. يصز،في يحافظت كفز انشيخ
ٍ حيث كشفج انفحٕصاث االإلكهيُيكيت ػٍ ٔخٕد إصاباث شذيذة في كبذ ٔػي، انخي حؼاَي يٍ حاالث َفٕق خًاػي
ٔباسخخذاو انفحٕصاث انًٕرٔفٕنٕخيّ انظاْزيّ ٔانبيٕكيًيائيت حبيٍ أٌ انبكخيزيا،األسًاك انًزيضّ انخٗ حى خًؼٓا
، انًؼزٔنت حُخًٗ إنٗ انًكٕراث انؼُقٕديت
16S حى اخخيار خًست يٍ بيٍ حسؼت ػزالث بُاء ػهٗ حشابّ انفحٕصاث انًٕرٔفٕنٕخيّ انظاْزيّ ٔانبيٕكيًيائيت نؼًم
ْٔي بكخيزيا غيز يًزضت ٔخارجBacillus rugosus ٔأظٓزث انُخائح أٌ إحذٖ انؼزالث،rRNA sequencing
طبقا نهخشابّ انديُٗ يغS. epidermidis بيًُا انؼزالث األربؼّ انًخبقيت فقذ حى حؼزيفٓى كبكخيزيا،َطاق ْذِ انذراست
.انؼزالث انًزخؼيت انًسخخذيت
، انكهٕرايفيُيكٕل،ٍ اإلريثزٔييسي،ٍ يقأيت نأليبيسهيS. epidermidis أظٓزث خًيغ انسالالث انًؼزٔنت نبكخيزيا
ّ بيًُا كاَج انبكخيزيا أكثز حساسي، ٍ ٔأظٓزٔا حساسيّ يخٕسطّ نهخخزاسيكهي،ٍ ٔاأليٕكسيسيهي،ٍانسخزبخٕيايسي
.ٍنهدُخاييسيٍ ٔانفاَكٕيايسي
.ّ حساسيت انًضاداث انحيٕي، ححهيم انخطٕر، 16S rRNA ،ّ انؼُقٕديّ انبشزٔي، انبهطي انُيهي:الكلمبت الذالة