Copper tolerance and antibiotic resistance in soil bacteria from olive tree agricultural fields routinely treated with copper compounds

Abstract BACKGROUND Heavy metal pollution may act as persistent selective pressure that favors the spread of antimicrobial resistance in natural environments. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify metal‐tolerant bacteria from soils in olive tree fields routinely treated with copper‐derived compounds and to evaluate the tolerance of bacterial strains to other metals and their resistance to clinically relevant antibiotics. RESULTS Five hundred and ninety‐five bacterial isolates from 45 olive tree agricultural fields were studied. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ≥ 16 mmol L −1 were detected for copper (57% of isolates), zinc (37%) and lead (62%), while only 3% had MICs ≥ 12 mmol L −1 for nickel. Ninety‐six metal‐tolerant strains were selected for identification and antibiotic resistance determination. Most isolates belonged to the genera Pseudomonas (37%), Bacillus (23%) and Chryseobacterium (20%), while 6% were identified as Variovorax , 4% as Stenotrophomonas and 2% as Serratia or Burkholderia . Highest copper tolerance was detected among Pseudomonas . Over 75% of the strains with high copper tolerance were also resistant to vancomycin, 50% to ampicillin and 40% to erythromycin or trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. CONCLUSION Bacteria from olive soils are tolerant to metals, mainly copper, but also zinc and lead, as well as resistant to clinically important antibiotics, which could be a troublesome issue in clinical settings. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry