BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Bacteriol.
Sec. Molecular Bacteriology and Microbiome
This article is part of the Research TopicSurveillance and Control Strategies for Multidrug-Resistant BacteriaView all articles
Novel Aeromonas hydrophila subsp. inisa with potential phage-mediated tolerance to benzalkonium chloride
Provisionally accepted
- 1Health Sciences Research Institute (Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud [INISA]), Universidad de Costa Rica, Montes de Oca, Costa Rica, Montes de Oca, Costa Rica
- 2Veterinarmedizinische Universitat Wien, Vienna, Austria
- 3Universidad de Costa Rica Escuela de Biologia, San Pedro, Costa Rica
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Wastewater treatment plants serve as hotspots for the proliferation and evolution of specialized microorganisms. Among these, Aeromonas hydrophila stands out as a bacteria capable of colonizing diverse aquatic ecosystems. Its resistance to disinfectants, such as benzalkonium chloride (BAC), is particularly concerning in wastewater treatment systems, where such traits can be propagated. Here, we present a genomic characterization of three isolates belonging to a newly identified subspecies, A. hydrophila subsp. inisa, based on comprehensive genomic analyses. These isolates exhibited higher levels of BAC resistance compared to the reference strain ATCC 7966/DSM 3017 (EC50 27mg/L vrs 24 mg/L) and contained several prophage sequences integrated into their genomes. These prophages were associated with genetic rearrangements, which may underline phenotypic changes, such as increased antimicrobial resistance. Notably, A. hydrophila subsp. inisa 10 exhibited greater genetic rearrangements and resistance to multiple antibiotics, traits not observed in the other isolates. This study provides the first description of a phage-associated A. hydrophila subspecies isolated from a wastewater system in Central America, underscoring the role of bacteriophages in driving bacterial evolution, speciation, and adaptation to highly polluted environments, as wastewater treatment plants.
Keywords: Bacteriophages, Biocides resistance, wastewater, Costa Rica, bacterial evolution
Received: 19 Sep 2025; Accepted: 03 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chacon, Mendoza-Guido, RodrÃguez-Rojas and Rojas-Jimenez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Luz Chacon, luz.chacon@ucr.ac.cr
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