Characterization of antimicrobial resistance in chicken-source phylogroup F Escherichia coli: similar populations and resistance spectrums between E. coli recovered from chicken colibacillosis tissues and retail raw meats in Eastern China

Abstract

The extended-spectrum cephalosporin resistant E. coli from food animals transferring to community settings of humans causes a serious threat to public health. Unlike phylogroup B2 E. coli strains, the clinical significance of isolates in phylogroup F is not well revealed. Here, we report on a collection ( n = 563) of phylogroup F E. coli isolates recovered from chicken colibacillosis tissues and retail raw chicken meat samples in Eastern China. There was an overlapped distribution of MLST types between chicken colibacillosis-origin and meat-source phylogroup F E. coli , including dominant STs (ST648, ST405, ST457, ST393, ST1158, etc). This study further investigated the presence of extended-spectrum β -lactamase (ESBL/pAmpC) producers in these chicken-source phylogroup F E. coli strains. The prevalence of extended-spectrum cephalosporin resistant strains in phylogroup F E. coli from chicken colibacillosis and raw meat separately accounted for 66.1 and 71.2%. The resistance genotypes and plasmid replicon types of chicken-source phylogroup F E. coli isolates were characterized by multiplex PCR. Our results revealed β -lactamase CTX-M, OXA, CMY and TEM genes were widespread in chicken-source phylogroup F E. coli , and bla CTX-M was the most predominant ESBL gene. Moreover, there was a high prevalence of non-lactamase resistance genes in these β -lactam-resistant isolates. The replicons IncB/O/K/Z, IncI1, IncN, IncFIC, IncQ1, IncX4, IncY, and p0111, associated with antibiotic-resistant large plasmids, were widespread in chicken-source phylogroup F E. coli . There was no obvious difference for the populations, resistance spectrums, and resistance genotypes between phylogroup F E. coli from chicken colibacillosis tissues and retail meats. This detail assessment of the population and resistance genotype showed chicken-source phylogroup F E. coli might hold zoonotic risk and contribute the spread of multidrug-resistant E. coli to humans.

Relationship between phylogenetic groups of Escherichia coli and Pathogenicity among Isolates from chickens with Colibacillosis and healthy chickens

“…Detection of phylogroup F may help predict highly virulent APEC. The zoonotic potential of phylogroup F E. coli in the present study may be clarified through further research on multilocus-sequence typing ( Zhuge et al, 2021 ) and antimicrobial resistance ( Wang et al, 2021 ) of the isolates.…”

“…APEC isolates obtained from diseased poultry occasionally belong to the phylogenetic group D in Thailand ( Thomrongsuwannakij et al, 2022 ) and groups A and D in Japan ( Asai et al , 2011 ; Ozaki et al, 2017 ), based on the original Clermont scheme. Recently, several studies focused on avian colibacillosis strains belonging to phylogroups B2 and F based on the revised Clermont scheme due to their zoonotic potential as an etiologic agent of extraintestinal infections in humans ( Jeong et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2021 ; Zhuge et al, 2021 ).…”

Antimicrobial resistance, virulence associated genes and phylogenetic background versus plasmid replicon types: the possible associations in avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC)

“…While group A is related to human commensal strains [ 32 ], strains from phylogroup D are associated with human infections which its high prevalence among APEC isolates is concerning [ 23 ]. Since the zoonotic risk of chicken-source phylogroup F E. coli and its contribution to spread of MDR E. coli to humans heve been proposed recently [ 33 , 34 ], the high portion of group F members should not be neglected. Moreover, the observed scattered distribution of APEC strains in different phylogroups may indirectly reflects the commensal nature of APEC strains who broken the host defence and ended up a septicemic infection [ 1 ].…”

Characteristics, pathogenic mechanism, zoonotic potential, drug resistance, and prevention of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC)

“…Under commercial conditions in Portugal, the overall 10-year antibiotic resistance of APEC strains is amoxicillin 78%, ampicillin 73.5%, tetracycline 63.3%, doxycycline 56.4%, apramycin 34.5%, neomycin 68.2%, flumequine 39.4%, cotrimoxazole 47.7%, florfenicol 46.6%, and lincospectin 66.3% (Oliveira et al, 2022). In China, the prevalence of extended-spectrum cephalosporinresistant strains in E. coli from chicken colibacillosis and raw meat separately accounted for 66.1% and 71.2% (Wang et al, 2021). Previous studies indicated that APEC strains found in poultry are shown to be important reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes (Nandi et al, 2004).…”