Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Clinical <i>Escherichia coli</i> Strains from Livestock and Poultry in Shandong Province, China During 2015–2020
Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>) isolated from animals may lead to antibiotic treatment failure and economic losses to farmers. The co-existence of antimicrobial resistant genes (ARGs) in the same isolate presents a major challenge for th...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Antibiotics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/14/1/95 |
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| Summary: | Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>) isolated from animals may lead to antibiotic treatment failure and economic losses to farmers. The co-existence of antimicrobial resistant genes (ARGs) in the same isolate presents a major challenge for the prevention and control of infection in multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative organisms. There have been a lot of studies on the antibiotic resistance of <i>E. coli</i> in livestock and poultry, but few of them have focused on clinical pathogens. <b>Objective:</b> The aim of this study was to explore the genetic characteristics, co-occurrence, and correlations between ARGs of <i>E. coli</i> isolated from the pathological tissues of livestock and poultry in Shandong Province, East China during 2015–2020. <b>Methods:</b> A total of 158 <i>E. coli</i> strains were collected and subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing and sequencing by whole-genome Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). <b>Results:</b> MDR strains accounted for 46.20% of the 158 <i>E. coli</i> strains with the highest resistant rate of ciprofloxacin (71.52%). In addition, strains with <i>bla<sub>NDM-5</sub>/mcr-1.1</i> and <i>mcr-1.1/mcr-3.24</i> were found in chickens, while three strains with <i>Tet(X4)</i> were found in pigs. In addition, the most common serotypes detected were the O serotype (76/158) and H serotype (36/158). Moreover, seventy-one STs were found and the most common STs were ST10 (6.33%), ST155 (6.33%), and ST101 (5.69%). The genetic environment analysis of the phylogroups revealed that <i>E. coli</i> belonging to phylogroup B1, phylogroup A, and phylogroup C constituted 39.87%, 27.85%, and 15.19%, respectively. Through the correlation analysis, <i>mcr</i> genes were observed to have certain relationships with ARGS such as <i>bla<sub>TEM</sub></i>, <i>floR</i>, <i>catA/B</i>, and <i>oqx</i>. <b>Conclusions:</b> This study demonstrates the high prevalence and gene diversity of MDR <i>E. coli</i> isolated from a clinic in Shandong Province, East China. We predicted the transmission risk of animal-borne <i>Tet(X4)</i>-bearing and <i>mcr</i>-harboring <i>E. coli</i> to public health and provided insight into the relationship of co-existence or co-transfer between <i>mcr</i> with ARGS. These relationships present a great challenge for the infection control of MDR Gram-negative organisms. |
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| ISSN: | 2079-6382 |