Purpose
Cupriavidus gilardii
is an emerging multidrug-resistant pathogen found in many environments and few clinical samples. The clinical infectiousness, pathogenicity, and resistance mechanisms of
C. gilardii
are still unclear due to the lack of clinical and sequencing data. We need to obtain insight into the clinical characteristics, virulence, and resistance mechanisms of
C. gilardii
.
Patients and Methods
We isolated five
C. gilardii
isolates from hospitalized patients and carried out assay, culture and genome sequencing. We analyzed the genomic features of clinical
C. gilardii
isolates and took insight into their clinical characteristics, virulence, and resistance mechanisms.
Results
These isolates were resistant to meropenem, gentamicin, and other antimicrobials due to intrinsic resistance genes. Furthermore, the sequencing results revealed the widespread presence of the
MCR-5.1
gene in
C. gilardii
. The virulence magnitude of
C. gilardii
is closely correlated with the number of virulence factors they carry. Some
C. gilardii
strains can acquire resistance to levofloxacin through
gyrA
gene mutation during treatment. The diverse antimicrobial resistance mechanisms challenge the treatment of
C. gilardii
infections.
Conclusion
We present the genomic characteristics of clinically isolated
C. gilardii
to improve (i) our understanding of this pathogen and (ii) treatment options.