Influence of salt concentration on the susceptibility of moderately halophilic bacteria to antimicrobials and its potential use for genetic transfer studies

The influence of salinity on the susceptibility of 13 moderately halophilic collection strains belonging to the genera Chromohalobacter, Deleya, Halomonas, Vibrio, and Volcaniella to 10 common antimicrobials has been studied. Three different patterns of tolerance were found when salinity was varied from 10 to 1% (wt/vol) total salts in the testing media. The first one included the responses to ampicillin and rifampicin, where only minimal effects on the susceptibility were found. All moderate halophiles showed a high sensitivity to rifampicin regardless of the salt concentration. In the second group, including the responses to the aminoglycosides gentamycin, kanamycin, neomycin, and streptomycin, a remarkable and gradual increase of the toxicity was detected at lower salinities. Thirdly, the highest heterogeneity was found for the rest of antimicrobials assayed (trimethoprim, nalidixic acid, spectinomycin, and tetracycline), where the effect of salinity was moderate and dependent on both the individual strain and the antimicrobial tested. The data presented here should facilitate genetic studies on moderate halophiles. Thus, they simplify the design of selection media for genetic exchange experiments. Besides, by using low-salinity media, genes encoding resistance to a number of antimicrobials, especially to aminoglycosides, can be used as genetic markers for plasmids or transposons to be transferred to these extremophiles.