Antibiotic resistance is one of the most important public health problem and one of the most critical steps in preventing resistance is the monitorization of the resistance. Local, regional and global monitoring enables the spread of antibiotic resistance to be understood more clearly. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the results of the pilot study for the establishment of molecular-based carbapenem surveillance system in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates and to investigate the carbapenemase epidemiology in Turkey. Hospitals (n= 28) from 26 different statistical level II regions from Turkey were included in the study. The hospitals participated in the study submitted ten carbapenem susceptible and ten carbapenem resistant E.coli and K.pneumoniae isolates to our laboratory that were isolated in two different periiods of six-month either between 1 March-31 August or 1 April-30 September 2019. A total of 509 isolates were collected from 26 of the 28 participating hospitals in the study. Isolates were identified by matrix assisted laser desorptionization-time of flight mass spectrophotometry (MALDI TOF MS) (Bruker Daltonics, Germany) method and antibiotic susceptibility tests for imipenem, meropenem and colistin were studied by broth microdilution. Moreover, susceptibilities to amikacin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ampicillin, aztreonam, cefepime, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, ertapenem, gentamicin, piperacillin-tazobactam, tobramycin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole were determined by disc diffusion method. The resistance genes were investigated in isolates which were found to be phenotypically resistant to carbapenem and colistin, in house method was used to investigate carbapenemase genes and a commercial colistin resistant real-time PCR kit (Biospeedy, Turkey) was used for colistin resistance genes. In total, 493 of the 509 isolates collected from hospitals were identified as E.coli (25.7%, n= 127) and K.pneumoniae (74.3%, n= 366) and included in the study. It was determined that 31% of the isolates evaluated were from community-acquired infections and 69% were either from healthcare-associated infections or from colonization sites. Among the tested isolates, 248 (50.3%) were susceptible to carbapenems and 245 (49.7%) were resistant. The types of carbapenemases in carbapenemase-producing isolates were OXA-48 (52.2%), KPC (16.1%), NDM-1 (15%), OXA-48 + NDM-1 (12.6%), KPC + NDM-1 (2.8%) and VIM (0.5%) and OXA-48+VIM (0.5%). Resistance to colistin was detected in 23.3% of the isolates but mcr1-8 genes were not detected. It was found that all colistin resistant isolates are resistant to at least one of the carbapenems. The importance of a molecular-based antimicrobial resistance surveillance system in our country was demonstrated with this pilot study. It is thought that continuous monitoring of these epidemiological features will contribute to the management of infections due to carbapenemase-producing organisms.

Fifty-one isolates were obtained from soil not used for agricultural activity and not exposed to any chemical procedures (such as fertilization, chemicals, etc.) in the Turkish province of Kirsehir and two of its districts (Mucur and Kaman). The isolates were then identified using morphological, biochemical techniques, and the MALDI-TOF MS method. Plant growth-promoting bacteria from Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Enterobacter spp., and Paenibacillus spp. were next identified. In addition to the characterization and identification of the isolates, a principal component analysis (PCA) dendrogram of species diversity was also established. Additionally, similarities between species and genera were analysed using PCA, dendrogram, and composite correlation index (CCI) analyses of the MS spectra of Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus spp. and Paenibacillus spp. on MATLAB software.

The present study aims to characterize twenty-seven Staphylococcus aureus isolates among a total of forty-four Staphylococci recovered from raw milk and traditional artisanal dairy foods (n = 285) in Central Anatolia and the Mediterranean Regions of Turkey, using MALDI-TOF MS-based phyloproteomic principal component analysis (PCA). The data shown by the spectra were analyzed, followed by composite correlation index (CCI), virtual gel, and cluster analysis for validation. The correlation between standard strain S. aureus 25,923 THL (SA-18) and all strains was significant since protein peak of m/z 5305 ± 2 Da was common in all strains, including SA-18. Twenty-six (9.12%) and fifteen (5.26%) out of all samples were found as contaminated by Staphylococci and S. aureus, respectively. The findings suggest that MALDI-TOF MS-based PCA is a promising fast method to categorize S. aureus in dairy foods, in need of continuous monitoring of foodborne pathogens for public health.

Petroleum hydrocarbons are one of the most well-known environmental pollutants not only for plants, and animals but also for humans because of their carcinogenic mutagenic, toxic, and teratogenic effects. Hence, various remediation technologies have been used to overcome these environmental pollutants. Among them, bioremediation is novel promising sustainable approach for treating petroleum and petroleum derivative raw material deleterious components with their effective, low-cost eco-friendly features. In this perspective, the evaluation of soil samples was collected from areas containing petroleum and petroleum derivatives from Kazanlı and Karaduvar refinery regions in Mersin-Turkey. Hence, potential hydrocarbon and petroleum degrading bacteria were identified and characterized by the MALDI-TOF MS method as well as biochemical, physiological, and morphological tests. According to the MALDI-TOF MS analysis; members of Bacillus, Stenotrophomonas, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Cupriavidus, Acinetobacter, and Escherichia were successfully identified as hydrocarbon and petroleum degrading bacteria.