Molecular characterization of multi-drug resistant <i>Escherichia coli</i> isolates from tropical environments in Southeast Asia

Abstract

The emergence of antibiotic resistance among multidrug-resistant (MDR) microbes is of growing concern, and threatens public health globally. A total of 129 Escherichia coli isolates were recovered from lowland aqueous environments near hospitals and medical service centers in the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Among the eleven antibacterial agents tested, the isolates were highly resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (83.7%) and nalidixic acid (71.3%) and moderately resistant to ampicillin and chloramphenicol (66.7%), tetracycline (65.1%), fosfomycin (57.4%), cefotaxime (57.4%), and ciprofloxacin (57.4%), while low resistance levels were found with aminoglycosides (kanamycin, 22.5%; gentamicin, 21.7%). The presence of relevant resistance determinants was evaluated, and the genotypic resistance determinants were as follows: sulfonamides (sulI, sulII, and sulIII), trimethoprim (dfrA1 and dfrA5), quinolones (qnrS), β-lactams (ampC and blaCTX-M), chloramphenicol (cmlA1 and cat2), tetracycline (tetA and tetM), fosfomycin (fosA and fosA3), and aminoglycosides (aphA1 and aacC2). Our data suggest that multidrug-resistant E. coli strains are ubiquitous in the aquatic systems of tropical countries and indicate that hospital wastewater may contribute to this phenomenon.

Antibiotic and heavy metal resistance genes in hospital effluents and streams in Benin

“…Therefore, we can say that the results obtained in the present study are in line with those of (Martin et al, 2021). Several studies have shown the presence of antibiotic resistance genes in hospital effluents (Hara et al, 2018;Paul et al, 2018;Yousfi et al, 2019;Fadare and Okoh, 2021), but very few have focused on the presence of HMRGs in effluents. This study provides new scientific data on the presence of heavy metals in hospital effluents.…”

Public health implications of plasmid-mediated quinolone and aminoglycoside resistance genes in Escherichia coli inhabiting a major anthropogenic river of India

“…The results of the antibiotic susceptibility testing are presented in Table 2. Thus, our results are similar to an earlier study which also reported that E. coli isolated from waterbodies of Malaysia exhibited lower levels of resistance for aminoglycosides [43]. However, another study from India reported that E. coli strains isolated from coastal waters of India were highly resistant for streptomycin and gentamicin [44].…”

Draft Genome Sequences of Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from River Water in Malaysia

“…Selective pressure from the environment may cause these bacteria to acquire resistance genes and serve as a significant reservoir for the transmission of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) determinants, becoming a threat to global health ( 4 – 6 ). Here, we sequenced three E. coli strains that were isolated from river water as reported previously ( 7 ) to determine their responsible AMR determinants. River water receiving treated and untreated wastewater discharged from nearby hospitals and medical service centers was collected from the Gombak River (3°10′13.2″N, 101°41′41.6″E) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.…”

“…The multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains were then obtained by disk diffusion assay ( 10 ). The MDR E. coli strains GR2, GR3, and GR5 ( 7 ) were selected for whole-genome sequencing. Genomic DNA was extracted from overnight cultures grown on Luria-Bertani (LB) plates using an ISOIL for Beads Beating kit (Nippon Gene) following the manufacturer’s protocol, with modification of the centrifugation speed and time to 12,000 rpm for 10 min.…”