Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Bacterial Isolates from Gold Mine Tailings in the Golden Lunar Community, the Rinconada, Puno, Peru

Gonzales-Alcos V.C.; Quispe-Florez G.A.; Carrión-Huancollo C.L.; Guillen-Venturo F.Z.; Huarachi-Valencia J.P. · Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies (2026) · DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-24262-4_35

Resumen

Mine tailings constitute highly selective ecosystems that exert adaptive pressure on microbial communities, promoting antibiotic resistance due to anthropogenic activity. This study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria isolated from mine tailings in the rural community of Golden Lunar community. A total of 500 g of mine tailings were collected from three sampling points, each with two replicates. Bacterial identification was performed through isolation and biochemical differentiation, identifying three species Gram negatives (Edwardsiella, Klebsiella and Escherichia). Antimicrobial susceptibility was assessed against a panel of 18 antibiotics, and the results were analyzed using Fisher’s and χ2 tests (α = 0.05) in R 4.5.1. No significant differences were found in overall susceptibility among the species; however, 100% resistance to amoxicillin, 33% to cefaclor and 67% to chloramphenicol were observed, in addition to intermediate susceptibility to nitrofurantoin and high sensitivity to carbapenems and monobactams. These findings suggest that mine tailings, due to the potential presence of heavy metals and other environmental stressors, may promote the co-selection of resistance genes and pose a public health risk to exposed communities by favoring the persistence of pathogens associated with gastrointestinal and respiratory infections. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional del Altiplano