phenotypic and genotypic investigation of the biofilm formation ability of escherichia coli strains isolated from the feces of wildlife animals of bamou national park

Since bacterial biofilm plays an important role in the development of disease and antibiotic resistance, the biofilm formation ability and frequency of three genes related to adhesion and biofilm formation in escherchia coli (e. coli) strains isolated from the feces of wildlife animals were investigated. fresh excrement samples of wild animals were collected from bamou national park in shiraz, iran. after culturing stool samples on macconkey and emb agar media and performing biochemical tests, a total of 103 isolates were confirmed as e. coli strains. the ability of the isolates to form biofilm was evaluated using the microtiter plate method. then, the dna of biofilm producing isolates was extracted by boiling method and the frequency of bcsa, crl and sfa/focde genes in them was checked by pcr technique. phenotypic investigation showed that a total of 37 isolates (35.9%) were able to form biofilm. more precisely, 30 isolates (29.1%) were weak biofilm producers, 7 isolates (6.8%) were moderate biofilm producers, and none of the isolates were strong biofilm producers. sfa/focde gene was not detected in biofilm-producing isolates, but bcsa and crl genes were detected in 35 isolates (94.6%).the ability to produce biofilm by more than one third of fecal e. coli isolates from wild animals and the presence of genes effective in adhesion and protective matrix production in these isolates increases their potential to cause infections, especially chronic infections, and can make them resistant to antibiotics.