Resistance to copper ions and antibiotics in marine heterotrophic bacteria in coastal waters of Vietnam.
Copper and antibiotic resistance was experimentally studied in marine heterotrophic bacteria isolated from the microfouling of copper and copper-alloys test plates in coastal waters of Vietnam. Resistance to copper ions and to at least one of the antibiotics tested was detected in 78.7% of the isolates. Twenty-eight models of antibiotic resistance were found in the bacteria. All strains isolated from the fouling of copper plates were resistant to seven or more antimicrobials. The microfouling communities of copper and copper-alloys plates were dominated by Bacillus spp. and Staphylococcus spp. Copper and antibiotic resistance was statistically independent of the taxon of the tested bacteria.