Heavy Metal Detection and Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria Isolated from Water Hyacinth Compost

Identified bacteria isolates were subjected to antibiotics sensitivity test using the Kirby Bauer disc Bacterial isolates exhibit synergistic resistance to heavy metals and antibiotics through comparable mechanisms. Antibiotic resistance genes in the environment may be amplified by this synergy and then transmitted to clinical settings. Assessing antibiotic resistance and heavy metals in bacteria isolated from water hyacinth compost was the goal of this investigation. sample taken from new Calabar River, Nigeria. Using established techniques, the microbiological analysis, physicochemical analysis, antibiotic sensitivity test, and total heterotrophic bacteria count (THBC) were all performed. diffusion method, and the resulting multidrug resistant (MDR) isolates were tested for heavy metal tolerance using the agar dilution method with increasing doses of the heavy metals under study (50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 μg/ml). 2.31± 0.43 x108 was the THBC. Seven isolates were tested for antibiotic sensitivity. Among them, WHC 1 (Bacillus sp), WHC 2 (Vibrio sp), WHC 3 (E. coli), WHC 6 (Pseudomonas sp), WHC 7 (Bacillus sp), WHC 9 (Aeromonas sp), and WHC 10 (Staphylococcus sp) were 100% resistant to numerous treatments. WHC 3 and WHC had the lowest level of antibiotic resistance (r=3), but WHC 6 and WHC 9 had the highest level (r=6). With the exception of cadmium and lead, all test isolates were 100% susceptible to chromium, vanadium, and cobalt at 250 μg/ml. At the lowest dose (50 μg/ml), all MDR isolates were able to withstand all heavy metals. The control isolate was sensitive to all concentrations of heavy metals but only resistant to cobalt and chromium at 50 μg/ml. According to this finding, bacteria that were separated from water hyacinth compost are resistant to both heavy metals and antibiotics.