Epidemiology of Plasmids in <i>Escherichia coli</i> and <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> with Acquired Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase Genes Isolated from Chronic Wounds in Ghana
Frederik Pankok,
Stefan Taudien,
Denise Dekker,
Thorsten Thye,
Kwabena Oppong,
Charity Wiafe Akenten,
Maike Lamshöft,
Anna Jaeger,
Martin Kaase,
Simone Scheithauer,
Konstantin Tanida,
Hagen Frickmann,
Jürgen May,
Ulrike Loderstädt
Affiliations
Frederik Pankok
Institute for Infection Control and Infectious Diseases, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
Stefan Taudien
Institute for Infection Control and Infectious Diseases, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
Denise Dekker
Department of Implementation Research, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
Thorsten Thye
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
Kwabena Oppong
Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 039-5028, Ghana
Charity Wiafe Akenten
Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 039-5028, Ghana
Maike Lamshöft
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
Anna Jaeger
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
Martin Kaase
Institute for Infection Control and Infectious Diseases, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
Simone Scheithauer
Institute for Infection Control and Infectious Diseases, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
Konstantin Tanida
Department of Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, Bundeswehr Hospital Hamburg, External Site at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
Hagen Frickmann
Department of Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, Bundeswehr Hospital Hamburg, External Site at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
Jürgen May
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
Ulrike Loderstädt
Institute for Infection Control and Infectious Diseases, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
Little information is available on the local epidemiology of mobile genetic elements such as plasmids harboring acquired beta-lactamase genes in Western African Ghana. In the present study, we screened for plasmids in three Escherichia coli and four Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates expressing extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) mediated by the blaCTX-M-15 gene from chronically infected wounds of Ghanaian patients. Bacterial isolates were subjected to combined short-read and long-read sequencing to obtain the sequences of their respective plasmids. In the blaCTX-M-15-gene-carrying plasmids of the four ESBL-positive K. pneumoniae isolates, IncFIB/IncFII (n = 3) and FIA (n = 1) sequences were detected, while in the blaCTX-M-15-gene-carrying plasmids of the three ESBL-positive E. coli isolates, IncFIA/IncFIB (n = 2) and IncFIB (n = 1) sequences were found. The three IncFIB/IncFII sequence-containing plasmids were almost identical to a K. pneumoniae plasmid reported from France. They belonged to the clonal lineages ST17, ST36 and ST39 of K. pneumoniae, suggesting transversal spread of this obviously evolutionary successful plasmid in Ghana. Other resistance gene-encoding plasmids observed in the assessed Enterobacterales harbored IncFIA/IncR and IncFII sequences. International spread was confirmed by the high genetic similarity to resistance-mediating plasmids published from Asia, Australia, Europe and Northern America, including a blaCTX-M-15-gene-carrying plasmid isolated from a wild bird in Germany. In conclusion, the study contributed to the scarcely available information on the epidemiology of third-generation cephalosporine resistance-mediating plasmids in Ghana. Furthermore, the global spread of resistance-mediating plasmids provided hints on the evolutionary success of individual resistance-harboring plasmids by transversal spread among K. pneumoniae lineages in Ghana.
