TY - JOUR
T1 - Complete Genetic Analysis of Plasmids Carrying Multiple Resistance, Virulence, and Phage-Like Genes in Foodborne Escherichia coli Isolate
AU - Liu, Xiaobo
AU - Li, Ruichao
AU - Chan, Edward Wai Chi
AU - Chen, Sheng
N1 - Funding Information:
The work described in this article was fully supported by the Basic Research Fund of Shenzhen JCYJ20200109143220716 and grants from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (C7003-20G, C7147-20G), the Natural Science Foundation of Changsha (kq2208418), and the Education Department of Scientific Research Project of Hunan Province (21C0147). We have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 Liu et al.
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Bacterial antimicrobial resistance, especially phenotypic resistance to multiple drugs (MDR), has posed a serious threat to public health worldwide. To clarify the mechanism of transmission of multidrug resistance encoding plasmids in Enterobacterales, all seven plasmids of an Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain 1108 obtained from a chicken meat sample were extracted and sequenced by Illumina Nextseq 500 and MinION platforms. Plasmids in strain 1108 possessed 16 known antimicrobial resistance genes, with p1108-NDM (;97K) being the most variable plasmid. The multidrug resistance region of p1108-NDM was punctuated by eight IS26 insertion sequences; thus, four MDR regions were found in the backbone of this plasmid. The plasmid p1108-MCR (;65K) was found to lack the ISApl1 element and harbor the blaCTX-M-64ISEcp1 transposition unit. Moreover, the ISEcp1-blaCMY-2 transposition unit was found in plasmid p1108-CMY2 (;98K), whereas plasmid p1108-emrB (;102K) was associated with resistance to erythromycin (emrB) and streptomycin (aadA22). p1108-IncY (96K) was a phage P1-like plasmid, while p1108-IncFIB (;194K) was found to harbor a virulence region similar to ColV plasmids, and they were found to encode a conserved conjugative transfer protein but harbor no resistance genes. Finally, no mobile element and resistant genes were found in p1108-ColV (;2K). Carriage of mcr-1-encoding elements in carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli will potentially render all antimicrobial treatment regimens ineffective. Enhanced surveillance and effective intervention strategies are urgently needed to control the transmission of such multidrug resistance plasmids. IMPORTANCE Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been increasingly prevalent in agricultural and clinical fields. Understanding the genetic environment involved in AMR genes is important for preventing transmission and developing mitigation strategies. In this study, we investigated the genetic features of an E. coli strain (1108) isolated from food product and harboring 16 AMR genes, including blaNDM-1 and mcr-1 genes encoding resistance to last line antibiotics, meropenem, and colistin. Moreover, this strain also carried virulence genes such as iroBCDEN, iucABCD, and iutA. Our findings confirmed that multiple conjugative plasmids that were formed through active recombination and translocation events were associated with transmission of AMR determinants. Our data warrant the continuous monitoring of emergence and further transmission of these important MDR pathogens.
AB - Bacterial antimicrobial resistance, especially phenotypic resistance to multiple drugs (MDR), has posed a serious threat to public health worldwide. To clarify the mechanism of transmission of multidrug resistance encoding plasmids in Enterobacterales, all seven plasmids of an Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain 1108 obtained from a chicken meat sample were extracted and sequenced by Illumina Nextseq 500 and MinION platforms. Plasmids in strain 1108 possessed 16 known antimicrobial resistance genes, with p1108-NDM (;97K) being the most variable plasmid. The multidrug resistance region of p1108-NDM was punctuated by eight IS26 insertion sequences; thus, four MDR regions were found in the backbone of this plasmid. The plasmid p1108-MCR (;65K) was found to lack the ISApl1 element and harbor the blaCTX-M-64ISEcp1 transposition unit. Moreover, the ISEcp1-blaCMY-2 transposition unit was found in plasmid p1108-CMY2 (;98K), whereas plasmid p1108-emrB (;102K) was associated with resistance to erythromycin (emrB) and streptomycin (aadA22). p1108-IncY (96K) was a phage P1-like plasmid, while p1108-IncFIB (;194K) was found to harbor a virulence region similar to ColV plasmids, and they were found to encode a conserved conjugative transfer protein but harbor no resistance genes. Finally, no mobile element and resistant genes were found in p1108-ColV (;2K). Carriage of mcr-1-encoding elements in carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli will potentially render all antimicrobial treatment regimens ineffective. Enhanced surveillance and effective intervention strategies are urgently needed to control the transmission of such multidrug resistance plasmids. IMPORTANCE Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been increasingly prevalent in agricultural and clinical fields. Understanding the genetic environment involved in AMR genes is important for preventing transmission and developing mitigation strategies. In this study, we investigated the genetic features of an E. coli strain (1108) isolated from food product and harboring 16 AMR genes, including blaNDM-1 and mcr-1 genes encoding resistance to last line antibiotics, meropenem, and colistin. Moreover, this strain also carried virulence genes such as iroBCDEN, iucABCD, and iutA. Our findings confirmed that multiple conjugative plasmids that were formed through active recombination and translocation events were associated with transmission of AMR determinants. Our data warrant the continuous monitoring of emergence and further transmission of these important MDR pathogens.
KW - foodborne E. coli
KW - genetic analysis
KW - phage
KW - resistance genes
KW - virulence genes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85153895174&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1128/spectrum.02820-22
DO - 10.1128/spectrum.02820-22
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 36943060
AN - SCOPUS:85153895174
SN - 2165-0497
VL - 11
JO - Microbiology spectrum
JF - Microbiology spectrum
IS - 2
M1 - e02820-22
ER -