Infection and Drug Resistance (Apr 2021)

Molecular Epidemiology of mcr-1, blaKPC-2, and blaNDM-1 Harboring Clinically Isolated Escherichia coli from Pakistan

  • Bilal H,
  • Rehman TU,
  • Khan MA,
  • Hameed F,
  • Jian ZG,
  • Han J,
  • Yang X

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 14
pp. 1467 – 1479

Abstract

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Hazrat Bilal,1 Tayyab Ur Rehman,2 Muhammad Asif Khan,2 Fareeha Hameed,2 Zhang Gao Jian,1 Jianxiong Han,1 Xingyuan Yang1 1Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Physical Sciences and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, PakistanCorrespondence: Xingyuan YangFaculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, No, 111 Jiulong Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230601, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [email protected]: The multiple-drug resistant Escherichia coli are among the deadliest pathogens causing life-threatening infections. This study was planned to determine the molecular epidemiology of mcr-1, blaKPC-2, and blaNDM-1 harboring clinically isolated E. coli from Pakistan.Methods: In total, 545 strains of E. coli from clinical samples were collected from June 2018 to September 2019. All the isolates were screened for colistin-resistance, extended-spectrum-β-lactamases (ESBL), and carbapenemases through the micro-dilution method, Double-Disk-Synergy-Test (DDST), and Modified-Hodge-Test (MHT). The detection, sequence-typing, conjugal transfer, S1-PFGE, plasmid-replicon-typing, and southern-blotting for mcr, ESBL, and carbapenemase-encoding genes were performed.Findings: A total of four (0.73%) colistin-resistant strains carrying alongside mcr-1 and blaCTX-M-15 genes, three of these strains also had the blaTEM-1 gene. The presence of ESBL genes was detected in 139 (25.5%) isolates harboring blaCTXM-15 (74.82%), blaTEM (34.53%), blaSHV (28.06%) and blaOXA-1 (28.78%). In 129 carbapenemase-producers, 35.83% possessed blaNDM-1, 26.67% blaKPC-2, 8.3% blaOXA-48, 25% blaVIM-1, and 20.83% blaIMP-1 genes. The sequence typing revealed that mcr-1 harboring isolates belonged to ST405, ST117, and ST156. Fifty percent of blaKPC-2 and 48.83% of blaNDM-1 were found on ST131 and ST1196, respectively. Two rare types of STs, ST7584, and ST8671 were also identified in this study. The mcr-1 gene was located on Incl2 (60-kb) plasmid. The blaKPC-2 was present on (140-kb) IncH12, (100-kb) IncN, (90-kb) Incl1, while blaNDM-1 was located on (70-kb) IncFIIK, (140-kb) IncH12, (100-kb) IncN, (60-kb) IncA/C, and (45-kb) IncFII plasmids, which were successfully trans-conjugated. Among the plasmid types, the Incl1 carrying blaKPC-2, IncH12 harboring blaKPC-2 and blaNDM-1, and IncFIIK carrying blaNDM-1 were for the first time detected in Pakistan.Conclusion: The mcr-1, blaKPC-2, and blaNDM-1 genes finding in various clonal and plasmids types indicate that a substantial selection of the resistance genes had occurred in our clinical strains.Keywords: colistin-resistance, extended-spectrum-β-lactamases, carbapenemases, mcr1, blaKPC-2, blaNDM-1, plasmids, E. coli

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