ANNALS OF MICROBIOLOGY, vol.55, no.3, pp.175-179, 2005 (SCI-Expanded)
A total of 15 Enterobacter spp. were isolated from water drainage near the landfill in Sofulu village in Adana and were characterised on the basis of morphological, cultural and biochemical characteristics. The Maximum Tolerable Concentrations of cadmium, copper, chromium and nickel for growth were used to determine metal tolerance of the isolated strains. Among the resistant strains used in this study, Ent-5, Ent-7 and Ent-15 were found to have plasmid resistance to copper and nickel. One resistant strain, Ent-5, functioned as a donor of copper resistance. Copper resistance transferred from Ent-5 to Escherichia coli AB3505 at a frequency of approximetely 2.7 x 10(-5) per recipient cell. Transformant strain had one plasmid with the same molecular weight donor strain's plasmid. These isolates can act reservoirs of heavy metal resistance genes that could be transferred to the other bacteria.