{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,13]],"date-time":"2026-09-13T05:04:45Z","timestamp":1789275885150,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789084800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100013209","name":"Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["11136"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["11136"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100013209","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["11136"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["11136"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05v75r592","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antibiotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Environmental bacterial isolates with contrasting, previously established antimicrobial-susceptibility phenotypes may differ in growth under antibiotic-free conditions, but such differences can reflect strain background and temperature. This study characterized the monoculture population development and growth kinetics of predefined pairs of naturally occurring, genetically distinct environmental Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, and Enterococcus faecium isolates selected from a broader previously characterized collection. Methods: Nine isolates were grown separately in a controlled nutrient-enriched seawater model at 12, 22, and 30 \u00b0C, representing low, intermediate, and high water-temperature conditions relevant to the Thermaic Gulf. Growth was described using the Baranyi\u2013Roberts model. Within each predefined strain pair and temperature, population development over time was assessed by two-way mixed-design ANOVA with Greenhouse\u2013Geisser correction and \u0160\u00edd\u00e1k-adjusted time-point comparisons. Temperature dependence of \u03bcmax was summarized using Ratkowsky and Arrhenius models. Results: Population-development patterns differed between paired isolates in all pair\u2013temperature comparisons except MA60\u2013T640 at 30 \u00b0C, but the direction and degree of the differences varied among pairs and sampling times. Fitted \u03bcmax did not always correspond directly to observed population development, as illustrated by SB10\u2013T280. SB10 had a higher \u03bcmax at all three temperatures while remaining at lower absolute population levels during early-to-mid growth. Conclusions: The selected environmental isolate pairs did not show a uniform direction of difference associated with antimicrobial-susceptibility phenotype. Population-development patterns were pair- and time-specific and differed among the tested temperature conditions, while fitted \u03bcmax did not always reflect observed population development. These findings provide a temperature-resolved basis for interpreting the growth behaviour of selected environmental isolates with contrasting antimicrobial-susceptibility phenotypes under controlled nutrient-enriched marine conditions across temperatures relevant to warming shellfish-production environments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics15090897","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T17:14:59Z","timestamp":1789146899000},"page":"897","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Pairwise Growth Dynamics of Environmental Escherichia coli and Enterococcus Isolates with Contrasting Antibiotic Susceptibility Phenotypes: Influence of Temperature"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-5790-5499","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Athanasios","family":"Tsiartsafis","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Thessaly, Fitoko Street, 38446 Volos, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3905-5856","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Foteini F.","family":"Parlapani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Thessaly, Fitoko Street, 38446 Volos, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators (2022). 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