Genome Assessment of Carbapenem- and Colistin-Resistant <i>Escherichia coli</i> from Patients in a Sentinel Hospital in China
Jiangang Ma,
Biao Tang,
Jiahui Lin,
Abdelaziz Ed-Dra,
Hui Lin,
Jing Wu,
Yuzhi Dong,
Hua Yang,
Min Yue
Affiliations
Jiangang Ma
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products & Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Biao Tang
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products & Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Jiahui Lin
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products & Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Abdelaziz Ed-Dra
Hainan Institute of Zhejiang University, Sanya 572025, China
Hui Lin
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products & Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Jing Wu
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products & Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Yuzhi Dong
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products & Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Hua Yang
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products & Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Min Yue
Hainan Institute of Zhejiang University, Sanya 572025, China
Antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) pathogens are a significant threat to public health worldwide. However, the primary carrier of AMR genes, particularly against last-resort antibiotics, is still only partially studied in Chinese hospitals. In a sentinel hospital in China, we collected 157 E. coli strains from patients between January and July 2021. One blaNDM-1-, nine blaNDM-5-, and one mcr-1-positive E. coli recovered from inpatients were identified as resistant to meropenem and colistin. There are 37 virulence genes discovered in the 11 strains, including astA in strain EC21Z-147 (O128: H4), which belongs to the enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC). The blaNDM gene is distributed into distinct ST types, including ST48, ST616, ST410, ST711, and ST2003, while the mcr-1 gene was identified in ST117. The conjugative plasmids IncX3, IncI1-I, and IncI2 mediated the blaNDM-5 and mcr-1 genes detected among inpatients. Notably, the youngest age at which mcr-1-positive E. coli has been reported was at one day old, in a child in which the strain is closely related to strains with animal origins. Hospitals are major environments for the spread and dissemination of critical virulence and AMR genes, which requires active monitoring systems at the genome level to surveil the spread of virulence and AMR.
