Strain belonging to an emerging, virulent sublineage of ST131 Escherichia coli isolated in fresh spinach, suggesting that ST131 may be transmissible through agricultural products.

ABSTRACT: Food contamination with pathogenic Escherichia coli can cause severe disease. Here, we report the isolation of a multidrug resistant strain (A23EC) from fresh spinach. A23EC belongs to subclade C2 of ST131, a virulent clone of Extraintestinal Pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC). Most A23EC virulence factors are concentrated in three pathogenicity islands. These include PapGII, a fimbrial tip adhesin linked to increased virulence, and CsgA and CsgB, two adhesins known to facilitate spinach leaf colonization. A23EC also bears TnMB1860, a chromosomally-integrated transposon with the demonstrated potential to facilitate the evolution of carbapenem resistance among non-carbapenemase-producing enterobacterales. This transposon consists of two IS26-bound modular t

SUBMITTER: Balbuena-Alonso MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10591226 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature