Incidence of Virulence Determinants and Antibiotic Resistance in Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Iranian Traditional Fermented Camel Milk (Chal)

Lactic acid bacteria, including lactobacilli, enterococci, leuconostoc and weissella species isolated from Iranian traditional fermented camel milk (Chal) were assessed for the incidence of virulence determinants (gelE, efaAfm, efaAfs, ace, espfs, cylM, cylA and cylB), sensitivity to various antibiotics and virulence phenotypes. The incidence of virulence genes was determined by polymerase chain reaction and antibiotic susceptibility was tested by disk diffusion method. The results of this study indicated that all of the strains harbor at least two or more of the virulence genes. The most frequent virulence genes detected among tested strains were cylB, gelE and efaAfs. All strains showed no β-hemolysis while tyrosine decarboxylase activity and gelatinase production were observed in enterococcus and leuconostoc strains. Majority of strains were resistant to Polymyxin B and kanamycin. Lactobacillus strains including L. paraplantarum, L. kefiri, L. paracasei, L. plantarum and Weissella cibaria were resistant to both vancomycin and kanamycin. The possibility of transferring the antibiotic resistance and virulence genes to other starter and commensal strains makes the usage of these strains in food and dairy products controversial without required safety assessments.