Molecular characteristics and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of bovine mastitis agents in western Türkiye.

Importance: Identifying bovine mastitis agents using molecular methods to reveal their phylogenetic relationships and antimicrobial resistance profiles is essential for developing up-to-date databases in mastitis cases that cause severe economic losses.

Objective: This study examined bacterial mastitis agents in cows with clinical and subclinical mastitis observed in various dairy cattle farms to reveal their phylogenetic relationships and antibiotic resistance properties.

Methods: Sixty-two clinical and subclinical bovine mastitis milk samples were collected from 15 dairy farms. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify the 16S rRNA gene regions of the bacteria. The 16S rRNA gene sequences obtained from sequencing include the V4-V6 regions. The strains were compared using a similarity analysis method that produced phylogenetic trees using the Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis 11 program. Antibiotic susceptibilities were determined using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method.

Results: Sixty-three bacteria were isolated and identified in this study. The most isolated bacteria from all mastitis cases were Staphylococcus spp. (30.2%), Escherichia coli (25.4%), Streptococcus spp. (14.3%), and Aerococcus spp. (7.9%), respectively. The phylogenetic trees were drawn from the 16S rRNA sequences. Some of these bacteria showed resistance to different types of antibiotics at varying rates.

Conclusions and relevance: The bacteria isolated in this study originated from environmental sources. Regular cleaning of barns and proper hygiene practices are essential. Regular screenings for mastitis should be conducted in herds instead of the random or empirical use of antibiotics.