S. Thirugnanasambandan Somasundaram

Stenotrophomonas maltophiliahas arisen as an important opportunistic pathogen, causing infections whose management is often difficult due to its intrinsic resistance to many antibiotics. Objective of the study was to identify accurately S. maltophilia isolates from environmental samples; the site selected being the Vellar estuarybased on the extent of pollutants being discharged and the land waterways being polluted by aquaculture discharge, wastes and effluents being dumped by hospital as well as households. The surficial sediment sample from the site was tested for species isolation and identification.The isolate was identified as S. maltophilia; the identity was confirmed by conventional biochemical analyses and molecular techniques. The strain’s antibiotic sensitivity/resistivity was checked by doing disk diffusion assay. The proposed approach enables isolation and identification of S. maltophilia from nonclinical environments. The drug resistant strains may associate with the indigenous microbial communities resulting in the rise of resistant varieties. The main risk for public health is that drug resistance genes are transferred from environmental bacteria to human pathogens. So awareness should be created among hospital staff and nearby communities.