Arienne Joyce Amodia
University of the Philippines Manila, Philippines
Abstract Title: Second Isolate of Chryseobacterium cupriresistens: Emerging Environment Reservoirs of Antimicrobial Resistance
Biography: Arienne Joyce Amodia is a licensed Medical Laboratory Scientist with a bachelor’s degree in Medical Technology and two years of clinical experience. Primarily in Clinical Chemistry. Her professional and diverse training fostered a strong interest in public health, leading her to transition into this field. She is currently working as a Research Assistant under the Department of Medical Microbiology of the University of the Philippines Manila College of Public health, where she is gaining research foundation in preparation for her graduate studies.
Research Interest: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in environmental and food-handling settings presents an increasing public health concern, particularly under a One Health framework. In this study, we report the second documented genome of Chryseobacterium cupriresistens and the first environmental isolate from the Philippines. An orange-pigmented, multidrug-resistant isolate was recovered from a vegetable countertop in a public market in Manila and was initially misidentified as Chryseobacterium indologenes using Vitek®2 and BLASTn analyses. Given the opportunistic pathogenicity and hospital persistence of C. indologenes, whole-genome sequencing was conducted to resolve its taxonomic identity and resistance profile. Oxford Nanopore PromethION sequencing produced a high-quality ~5Mbp genome (36.41% G+C) assembled into four contigs with 100% completeness. Comparative genomic analyses, including average nucleotide identity and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization, revealed that the isolate is distinct from C. indologenes and is instead most closely related to C. cupriresistens EZn1T, a species originally isolated from metal-contaminated soil. Genome annotation identified nine antimicrobial resistance genes and multiple heavy-metal resistance determinants, including genes associated with cooper, arsenic, iron, and mercury resistance. Although this strain is predicted to be nonpathogenic, the presence of plasmid-mediated multidrug resistance genes raises concern regarding potential horizontal gene transfer. From a One Health perspective, food-contact environments may serve as reservoirs for antimicrobial resistance and facilitate horizontal gene transfer to clinically relevant pathogens, underscoring the need to expand AMR surveillance beyond clinical setting. Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance, Multi-drug resistant pathogen, One Health, Wet markets, Environmental contamination, Food Safety.