Abstract

Cross contamination from composting farm manure and surface run-off waters or the application of untreated sewage, or manure can be sources of pathogenic microorganisms that contaminate fruits and vegetables in the field. Therefore, the current study was aimed to detect the incidence of Escherichia coli isolates from herbs samples and the molecular detection of β-Lactamases and aminoglycoside resistance genes among E. coli isolates recovered from medicinal plant. 58 strains of E. coli (28.43%) were isolated and serotyping of the recovered E.coli isolates revealed 18 strains O125 (31.03%), 12 strains were (20.69%) O86, 10 strains were (17.24%) O112, 8 strains were (13.79%) O127, 6 strains were (10.34%) O128 and 4 strains were (6.90%) O44. The E. coli isolates were tested by PCR for detection of aacC2 gene; all isolates showed amplification of 896 bp fragments specific for aacC2 gene. Multiplex PCR showed amplification of 516 bp fragments specific for blaTEM gene in all isolates (100%). Moreover, 38 of the E. coli isolate (65.52%) had a band compatible with blaSHV gene (392 bp fragments) while, the presence of blaOXA_1 gene was not detected in all E. coliisolates.

Key words: Medicinal plant, Escherichia coli, resistance gene, molecular detection, multiplex PCR