# Antibiotic Resistance in Seawater Samples from East Coast of Spain
###### Abstract
2 Laboratorio de Microbiologia de Salud Public--Valencia, Avenida de Cataluna, 21, 46020 Valencia, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
1 Centro Avanzado de Microbiologia de Alimentos, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, C/ Cami de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (D.D. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.G.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.G.-F.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.-J.-B.) 2 Laboratorio de Microbiologia de Salud Public--Valencia, Avenida de Cataluna, 21, 46020 Valencia, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
1 Centro Avanzado de Microbiologia de Alimentos, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, C/ Cami de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (D.D. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.G.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.G.-F.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.-J.-B.) 2 Laboratorio de Microbiologia de Salud Public--Valencia, Avenida de Cataluna, 21, 46020 Valencia, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
1 Centro Avanzado de Microbiologia de Alimentos, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, C/ Cami de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (D.D. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.G.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.G.-F.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.-J.-B.) 2 Laboratorio de Microbiologia de Salud Public--Valencia, Avenida de Cataluna, 21, 46020 Valencia, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
1 Centro Avanzado de Microbiologia de Alimentos, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, C/ Cami de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (D.D. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.G.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.G.-F.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.-J.-B.) 2 Laboratorio de Microbiologia de Salud Public--Valencia, Avenida de Cataluna, 21, 46020 Valencia, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
1 Centro Avanzado de Microbiologia de Alimentos, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, C/ Cami de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (D.D. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.G.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.G.-F.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.I.-J.-B.) 2 Laboratorio de Microbiologia de Salud Public--Valencia, Avenida de Cataluna, 21, 46020 Valencia, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
1 Centro Avanzado de Microbiologia de Alimentos, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, C/ Cami de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain; diedacacac@doctor. and aquatic environments such as wastewater [15; 16], drinking water [17; 18; 19; 20], surface waters [21; 22; 23], irrigation ditches [24; 25], and, to a lesser extent, the marine environment. However, it is well known that run-off from land-based sources and wastewater discharge can reach the sea, introducing resistant bacteria and their genes to this environment in turn [26]. Another important source of antimicrobial resistance is the use of antibiotics in activities related to marine aquaculture [27; 28]. Therefore, seawater can diffuse ARGs not only through the fluidity of water bodies but also through transfer between bacterial species [29]. Furthermore, urban coastal beaches, which are widely used by humans for recreational purposes, may provide an ideal environment for resistance spread [30; 31]. Although ARB and ARG have been recognized as emerging contaminants [32; 33], insufficient information is available on their prevalence and abundance in the environment [34]. Therefore, information on the environmental occurrence of ARB and ARGs will help to fill existing gaps and support national and international action plans to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance [35]. Although, as mentioned above, ARGs could be transferred to the sea, reports on ARG pollution in coastal areas are very few. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the antibiotic resistance profile of fecal indicator bacteria isolated from seawater from different coastal locations in Comunitat Valenciana (Spain) by combining phenotypic and molecular analyses. For the present study, we selected a series of ARGs that confer resistance to the most widely used antibiotics in the clinical practice: _bla_TEM (\(\beta\)-lactams), _ermB_ (macrolides), _qnrS_ (fluoroquinolones), _suI_I (sulfonamides), and _tetW_ (tetracyclines).