Project description:BackgroundfosA3 is the most commonly reported plasmid-mediated fosfomycin resistance gene among Enterobacteriaceae.ObjectivesTo identify the origin of fosA3.MethodsThe chromosome of Kluyvera georgiana clinical strain YDC799 was fully sequenced with single-molecule real-time sequencing. Comparative genetic analysis was performed for K. georgiana YDC799, K. georgiana type strain ATCC 51603 and representative fosA3-carrying plasmids. fosA genes were cloned in Escherichia coli to confirm function.ResultsK. georgiana YDC799 harboured fosA (designated fosAKG) and blaCTX-M-8 on the chromosome. The genetic environments surrounding fosA3 and bounded by IS26 were nearly identical with the corresponding regions of K. georgiana YDC799 and ATCC 51603. The amino acid sequence of FosAKG from YDC799 and K. georgiana ATCC 51603 shared 99% and 94% identity with FosA3, respectively. Cloned FosAKG conferred fosfomycin resistance with an MIC of >1024 mg/L for E. coli.ConclusionsThe plasmid-mediated fosA3 gene was likely mobilized from the chromosome of K. georgiana by an IS26-mediated event.
Project description:A total of 265 Salmonella Enteritidis isolates collected from retail markets and children's hospitals in Shanghai were used to investigate the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of plasmid-mediated fosfomycin resistance genes. Nine of the isolates-7 from the 146 (4.79%) retail chicken-related samples and 2 from the 119 (1.68%) samples from clinical children-were fosfomycin-resistant (FosR). The fosA3 gene was detected in all of the nine FosR isolates, which were located on Inc F-type (8/9, 88.9%) and unknown-type (1/9, 11.1%) transferable plasmids. In total, five plasmid types, namely Inc HI2 (1/9, 11.1%), Inc I1 (3/9, 33.3%), Inc X (8/9, 88.9%), Inc FIIs (9/9, 100%), and Inc FIB (9/9, 100%), were detected in these FosR isolates, which possessed five S1 nuclease pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (S1-PFGE) profiles. The extended-spectrum β-lactamase determinant blaCTX-M-14 subtype was identified in one FosRS. Enteritidis isolate, which was located in a transferable unknown-type plasmid co-carrying fosA3 and tetR genes. Sequence homology analysis showed that this plasmid possessed high sequence similarity to previously reported blaCTX-M-14- and fosA3-positive plasmids from E. coli strains, implying that plasmids carrying the fosA3 gene might be disseminated among Enterobacterales. These findings highlight further challenges in the prevention and treatment of Enterobacteriaceae infections caused by plasmids containing fosA3.
Project description:The effective treatment of carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae infection has been limited and required novel potential agents. Due to the novel drug development crisis, using old antimicrobial agents and combination therapy have been highlighted. This study focused on fosfomycin which inhibits cell wall synthesis and has potential activity on Enterobacteriaceae. We evaluated fosfomycin activity against carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae and characterized fosfomycin resistance mechanisms. Fosfomycin revealed effective activity against only 31.8% of carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae isolates. The major resistance mechanism was FosA3 production. The co-occurrence of FosA3 overexpression with the mutation of glpT (or loss of glpT) and/or uhpT was mediated high-level resistance (MIC>256 mg/L) to fosfomycin. Moreover, fosA3 silenced in sixteen fosfomycin-susceptible isolates and the plasmid carrying fosA3 of these isolates increased 32- to 64-fold of fosfomycin MICs in Escherichia coli DH5α transformants. The in vitro activity of fosfomycin combination with amikacin by checkerboard assay showed synergism and no interaction in six (16.2%) and sixteen isolates (43.3%), respectively. No antagonism of fosfomycin and amikacin was observed. Notably, the silence of aac (6)'-Ib and aphA6 was observed in amikacin-susceptible isolates. Our study suggests that the combination of fosfomycin and amikacin may be insufficient for the treatment of carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae isolates.
Project description:Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an important causative agent of gastroenteritis, with the consumption of contaminated seafood being the major transmission route. Resistance to penicillin is common among V. parahaemolyticus strains, whereas cephalosporin resistance remains rare. In an attempt to assess the current prevalence and characteristics of antibiotic resistance of this pathogen in common food samples, a total of 54 (17% of the total samples) V. parahaemolyticus strains were isolated from 318 meat and seafood samples purchased from supermarkets and wet markets in Shenzhen, China, in 2013. These isolates exhibited high-level resistance to ampicillin, yet they were mostly susceptible to other antimicrobials, except for two that were resistant to extended-spectrum cephalosporins. The β-lactamase gene blaPER-1 was detectable in one strain, V. parahaemolyticus V43, which was resistant to both third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins. Compared to other blaPER-1-positive V. parahaemolyticus strains reported in our previous studies, strain V43 was found to harbor an ∼200-kb conjugative plasmid carrying genes that were different from the antimicrobial resistance genes reported from the previous studies. The β-lactamase gene blaCMY-2 was detectable for the first time in another V. parahaemolyticus isolate, V4, which was resistant to third-generation cephalosporins. This blaCMY-2 gene was shown to be located in an ∼150-kb IncA/C-type conjugative plasmid with a genetic structure consisting of traB-traV-traA-ISEcp1-blaCMY-2-blc-sugE-encR-orf1-orf2-orf3-orf4-dsbC-traC, which is identical to that of other IncA/C conjugative plasmids in Enterobacteriaceae, albeit with a different size. These findings indicate that the transmission of extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL) and AmpC β-lactamase genes via conjugative plasmids can mediate the development of extended-spectrum cephalosporin resistance in V. parahaemolyticus, thereby posing a potential threat to public health.
Project description:This report describes one Salmonella isolate harbouring both mcr-1 and mcr-3. We also found nine other Salmonella isolates positive for the plasmid-borne colistin resistance gene, mcr-3. The strains were isolated from patients in Denmark between 2009 and 2017 and five of the patients had travelled to Asia. In addition to mcr-3, all strains were found positive for blaTEM-1, strA, strB, sul2 and tet(A) or tet(B), and most strains were positive for blaCTX-M-55 and qnrS.
Project description:The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of a fosA3 carrying IncC-IncN plasmid from a multidrug-resistant Salmonella isolate HNK130. HNK130 was isolated from a chicken and identified as ST17 Salmonella enterica serovar Indiana and exhibited resistance to 13 antibiotics including the cephalosporins and fosfomycin. S1 nuclease pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and Southern blot assays revealed that HNK130 harbored only one ∼180-kb plasmid carrying fosA3 and bla CTX-M-14, which was not transferable via conjugation. We further examined 107 Escherichia coli electro-transformants and identified 3 different plasmid variants, pT-HNK130-1 (69), pT-HNK130-2 (15), and pT-HNK130-3 (23), in which pT-HNK130-1 seemed to be the same as the plasmid harbored in HNK130. We completely sequenced an example of each of these variants, and all three variants were IncC-IncN multi-incompatible plasmid and showed a mosaic structure. The fosA3 gene was present in all three and bounded by IS26 elements in the same orientation (IS26-322bp-fosA3-1758bp-IS26) that could form a minicircle containing fosA3. The bla CTX-M-14 gene was located within an IS15DI-ΔIS15DI-iroN-IS903B-bla CTX-M-14 -ΔISEcp1-IS26 structure separated from the fosA3 gene in pT-HNK130-1, but was adjacent to fosA3 in pT-HNK130-3 in an inverted orientation. Linear comparison of the three variants showed that pT-HNK130-2 and pT-HNK130-3 resulted from the sequence deletion and inversion of pT-HNK130-1. Stability tests demonstrated that pT-HNK130-1 and pT-HNK130-3 could be stably maintained in the transformants without antibiotic selection but pT-HNK130-2 was unstable. This is the first description of an IncC-IncN hybrid plasmid from an ST17 S. Indiana strain and indicates that this plasmid may further facilitate dissemination of fosfomycin and cephalosporin resistance in Salmonella.
Project description:Conjugation drives the horizontal transfer of adaptive traits across prokaryotes. One-fourth of the plasmids encode the functions necessary to conjugate autonomously, the others being eventually mobilizable by conjugation. To understand the evolution of plasmid mobility, we studied plasmid size, gene repertoires, and conjugation-related genes. Plasmid gene repertoires were found to vary rapidly in relation to the evolutionary rate of relaxases, for example, most pairs of plasmids with 95% identical relaxases have fewer than 50% of homologs. Among 249 recent transitions of mobility type, we observed a clear excess of plasmids losing the capacity to conjugate. These transitions are associated with even greater changes in gene repertoires, possibly mediated by transposable elements, including pseudogenization of the conjugation locus, exchange of replicases reducing the problem of incompatibility, and extensive loss of other genes. At the microevolutionary scale of plasmid taxonomy, transitions of mobility type sometimes result in the creation of novel taxonomic units. Interestingly, most transitions from conjugative to mobilizable plasmids seem to be lost in the long term. This suggests a source-sink dynamic, where conjugative plasmids generate nonconjugative plasmids that tend to be poorly adapted and are frequently lost. Still, in some cases, these relaxases seem to have evolved to become efficient at plasmid mobilization in trans, possibly by hijacking multiple conjugative systems. This resulted in specialized relaxases of mobilizable plasmids. In conclusion, the evolution of plasmid mobility is frequent, shapes the patterns of gene flow in bacteria, the dynamics of gene repertoires, and the ecology of plasmids.
Project description:This study was undertaken to assess the antibacterial efficacy of lactobacilli isolated from curd and human milk samples. Identities of thirty-one different lactobacilli (20 from curd and 11 from human milk) were confirmed by genus-specific PCR and 16S rRNA-based sequencing. These strains belonged to five species, Lactobacillus casei, L. delbrueckii, L. fermentum, L. plantarum, and L. pentosus. Antibacterial activities of cell-free supernatants (CFSs) of all the Lactobacillus isolates were estimated through standard agar-well diffusion assay, against commonly occurring food-borne and clinically important human pathogens. None of the lactobacilli cell-free supernatant (CFS) exhibited inhibitory activity against four pathogens, namely Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Bacillus cereus, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, and Shigella flexneri were moderately inhibited by majority of CFSs, whereas, weak activity was observed against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus mirabilis. CFS of some of the curd isolates displayed antagonistic activity against Streptococcus mutans; however, human milk lactobacilli did not displayed any inhibitory activity against them. As expected, Nisin (Nisaplin®) showed inhibitory activity against Gram-positive, S. aureus, B. cereus, and L. monocytogenes. Interestingly, few of the examined CFSs exhibited inhibitory activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens. Findings from this study support the possibility to explore the tested lactobacilli and their CFSs as natural bio-preservatives, alone or in combination with approved bacteriocins in food and pharma formulations after validating their safety.