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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Terrestrial Microbiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1454510

Insight into the phylogeny and antibiotic resistance of Pseudomonas spp. originating from soil of the Białowieża National Park in Northeastern Poland

Provisionally accepted
Wioleta Lewandowska Wioleta Lewandowska 1,2*Jacques Mahillon Jacques Mahillon 3Justyna Malgorzata Drewnowska Justyna Malgorzata Drewnowska 1Izabela Swiecicka Izabela Swiecicka 1
  • 1 University of Białystok, Białystok, Poland
  • 2 Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Białystok, Białystok, Podlaskie, Poland
  • 3 Earth and Life Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Walloon Brabant, Belgium

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Pseudomonas genus includes species present in various environments and known for antibiotic resistance. However, only hospital-associated Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been extensively studied regarding antibiotic resistance. Thus, to fill the gap in knowledge on antibiotic resistance among other Pseudomonas spp., we investigated 41 isolates from soil samples taken in the Białowieża National Park in Northeastern Poland. This unique forest without notable anthropogenic influence, provides excellent conditions for research of antibiotic resistance from the perspective of natural environments. The phylogeny trees obtained based on the nucleotide sequence of the 16S rRNA gene and gyrB gene grouped the isolates into clusters belonging to the Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas koreensis and Pseudomonas putida groups, originating from the P. fluorescens lineage. All isolates under study demonstrated resistance to at least 12 out of the 24 antibiotics tested. Resistance to colistin, cefotaxime, and imipenem was detected in 73, 73, and 17% of the isolates, respectively. Most isolates showing resistance to imipenem and colistin clustered within the P. fluorescens group. Seven isolates were highly multi-resistant, to up to 18 of the 24 antibiotics tested. The presence of resistance genes related to intrinsic resistance of P. aeruginosa has been confirmed in environmental isolates.

    Keywords: Pseudomonas spp., Environmental isolates, Białowieża National Park, phylogeny, antibiotic resistance, Soil

    Received: 25 Jun 2024; Accepted: 07 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Lewandowska, Mahillon, Drewnowska and Swiecicka. 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: Wioleta Lewandowska, University of Białystok, Białystok, Poland

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