Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Milton, Sarah L.
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern due to the improper use of antibiotics. Not only is antibiotic resistance increasingly occurring in human populations, but it appears to be spreading in wildlife populations too due to drug overuse and misuse in medicine, farming, and industrial settings, and the subsequent release into watersheds. This project examined the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the hindgut microbiome of green (Chelonia mydas) (n=60) and loggerhead (Caretta caretta) (n=57) sea turtles. Hindgut swabs were cultured for gram negative bacteria and exposed to 6 antibiotics. 83.3% of samples were resistant or intermediately resistant to at least one antibiotic, and 27.7% of samples were resistant or intermediately resistant to three antibiotics. This study provides more information regarding the relationship between turtle characteristics and the presence of antibiotic resistance in the hindgut of Florida sea turtles, as well as examine the types of bacteria found in the hindgut.
Extent
92 p.
Recommended Citation
Cortes, Christina M., "Surveying Antibiotic Resistance of Gram-Negative Bacteria Isolated from Wild-Caught and Rehabilitated Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) and Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) of Florida" (2024). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present. 1495.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general/1495
Identifier
FA00014489
Comments
Includes bibliography.|Thesis (MS)--Florida Atlantic University, 2024.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.