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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Extra-Intestinal Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from Meat

Teresa FascianaG. OliveriChiara MascarellaC. CardamoneGiuseppina CapraAnna GiammancoGiorgia Caruso

subject

0301 basic medicineSettore MED/07 - Microbiologia E Microbiologia ClinicaMeatArticle SubjectVirulence Factors030106 microbiologyVirulencelcsh:MedicineSingle-nucleotide polymorphismDrug resistanceMicrobial Sensitivity TestsQuinolonesmedicine.disease_causePolymorphism Single NucleotideGeneral Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular BiologyVirulence factorPoultryMicrobiology03 medical and health sciencesAntibiotic resistanceDrug Resistance Multiple BacterialmedicineEscherichia coliAnimalsEscherichia coliEscherichia coli InfectionsGeneral Immunology and Microbiologybiologylcsh:RGeneral Medicinebiology.organism_classificationAnti-Bacterial AgentsMultiple drug resistanceIntestines030104 developmental biologyFood MicrobiologyE. coli ExPEC foodBacteriaResearch ArticleFluoroquinolonesPlasmids

description

Extra-intestinal E. coli are emerging as a global threat due to their diffusion as opportunistic pathogens and, above all, to their wide set of antibiotic resistance determinants. There are still many gaps in our knowledge of their origin and spread pathways, although food animals have been adjudicated vehicles for passing mult-drug resistant bacteria to humans. This study analyzed 46 samples of meat purchased from retail stores in Palermo in order to obtain quinolone-resistant E. coli isolates. Strains were screened for their phylogenetic groups, ST131-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and then typed by ERIC-PCR. Their set of virulence factors, namely, kpsMII, papA, sfaS, focG, iutA, papC, hlyD, and afa genes, were investigated and their fluoroquinolone-resistance determinants evaluated. The data obtained show a dramatically high prevalence of multidrug resistance patterns in the Palermo area, with 28% of the isolates having virulence factor genes typical of ExPEC strains. No B2 group or ST131 strains were detected. Moreover, 20% of our isolates showed positivity to all the plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) determinants, showing a potential to transfer these genes among other bacteria. Therefore, these data underline the possibility that food animals and, specifically, poultry in particular may be a significant source of resistant bacterial strains, posing a potential zoonotic risk.

10.1155/2018/8714975http://hdl.handle.net/10447/321246