Virulence genotype and phenotype of two clinical isolates of Arcobacter butzleri obtained from patients with different pathologies

Abstract

The surge in human arcobacteriosis has increased interest in determining the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of Arcobacter butzleri. Here, genomic analyses and in vitro Caco-2 infection, motility, urease and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) assays were used to characterise the virulence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) determinants of strains HC-1, isolated from a patient with travellers’ diarrhoea, and HC-2, isolated from another with pruritus. AMR determinants conferring resistance to tetracycline (tetO, present in both genomes) and to ampicillin and amoxicillin–clavulanic acid (bla3, present in HC-2) were identified. The same determinants associated with flagellum, chemotaxis, adhesion and invasion were detected in both, but HC-1 lacked eight flagellar genes. The urease cluster was only present in HC-1. Motility and urease tests confirmed the genetic differences between strains, but no genetic marker related to the inability of HC-2 to adhere and invade was identified. This inability could be conditioning the patient’s pathology.