Screening of multidrug-resistant coliforms from fruit juice and their significant correlations with the developmental deformities of Artemia salina (Brine shrimp)

Microbial spoilage of fruit juice is one of the major concerns for human infections in Bangladesh. In this context, local and packaged fruit juices were microbiologically assessed based on lactose-fermenting ability. The isolates were tested to analyze acute toxicity against the developmental stages of Artemia salina and correlations between the bacterial dose duration and brine shrimp’s abnormalities. The morphological, physiological, biochemical, and 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that isolate A was Acinetobacter sp. (lactose-non-fermenting, sample-6) and B was Klebsiella sp. (lactose-fermenting, sample-9). The developmental toxicity of both bacteria induced delayed germination of Artemia cysts and after 48 hours, missing antenulla, abnormal eye, contused mandibles, absent swimming legs, and damaged ovaries were recorded. The Duncan Multiple Range Test confirmed the highest toxicity of Acinetobacter sp. compared to Klebsiella sp. The time of death (tD ₅₀ ) was 5 hours for Acinetobacter sp. and 6 hours for Klebsiella sp. The lethal concentration (LC ₅₀ ) values were 61.07 ± 0.19µl and 69.99 ± 0.21µl, respectively. Pearson correlations revealed defective traits were positively correlated with the increased coliform’s exposure duration to Artemia salina and multidimensional test confirmed complete separation between control and treated Artemia . Both bacteria were multidrug-resistant. This study suggests that awareness should be raised to eradicate microbial health hazards.