The environment is an intrinsic resource that sustains man and all living organisms for growth, and survival. Therefore, the protection of the environment against contamination must be sustained. It is a known fact that antibiotic resistance exhibited by groups of microorganisms is a great threat to all lives, as infections with such organisms are difficult to treat leading to high mortality rate in the world. This study is aimed at identifying antibiotic resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolated from scrap metal dumpsites in Jalingo and wukari. A total of eighteen (18) soil samples were obtained from different soil depth of 0cm, 30cm, 50cm in Jalingo and Wukari. The soil samples were serially diluted using ten-fold dilution technique and 1ml from 10-8 from each of the samples was aspirated and cultured for 24 hours at 370C using pour plate method. Bacteria that were isolated in these soils were screened for antibiotic resistance. The resistant isolates were further identified using molecular techniques. The results shows the identification of three bacterial isolates which are Pseudomonas putida,with 81.44% similarity, Burkholderia ambifaria, having 95.69% simalarities and Burkholderia seminalis, with 97.16% similarities. Antibiotic profiling of the respective bacteria revealed 100% resistance to the entire antibiotic tested for Pseudomonas putida, Burkholderia ambifaria shows 57% resistance and 42% susceptibility to the antibiotics, Burkholderia seminalis on the other hand revealed 79% resistance and 21% susceptibility. This finding suggests high potential of antibiotic resistance among bacteria found in scrap metal contaminated environment, and this assertion may be due to the contamination of the soil by heavy metals leakages from the scrap metals as some of the resident bacteria metabolize these metals and subsequently becoming resistant to the metals. It is documented that bacteria uses same mechanisms of heavy metal resistance for antibiotic resistance.
Key words: Antibiotics, resistance, Enterobacteriaceae molecular characterization, scrap metal.
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