Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter spp. on soil and crops collected from agricultural fields in South Korea

The emergence of antibiotic resistance in Acinetobacter spp. is a rising public health concern worldwide. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of antibiotic-resistance genes and the virulence of Acinetobacter spp. isolated from soil and crops obtained from agricultural fields in South Korea. Eight Acinetobacter spp. isolates carried various antibiotic resistance genes, such as emrAB (100%), cat/craA (100%), and aadA gene (87.5%). Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) analysis revealed that strains harboring antibiotic resistance genes exhibited high resistance to the respective antibiotics, such as colistin, chloramphenicol, and streptomycin. Interestingly, most of these isolates had high capability of biofilm formation and swarming motility, along with faster growth rates. Taken together, our study demonstrated that antibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter isolated from agricultural settings in South Korea not only frequently carries antibiotic resistance genes but also has virulence-related traits.