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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Antibiotic Resistance and New Antimicrobial drugs
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1403234
This article is part of the Research Topic Evolution, Molecular Mechanisms and the Strategies to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): A One Health Approach View all 20 articles

Genetic Landscape of ESBL-Producing International Clone Escherichia coli ST410 Isolates in Pediatric Infections at Shenzhen, China

Provisionally accepted
SANDIP PATIL SANDIP PATIL 1LIU PAI LIU PAI 1Hongyu Chen Hongyu Chen 1Yunsheng Chen Yunsheng Chen 1Li Xinye Li Xinye 2Shaowei Dong Shaowei Dong 1Sanket Kaushik Sanket Kaushik 3Lopes Bruno Lopes Bruno 4Xiaowen Chen Xiaowen Chen 1Si-xi Liu Si-xi Liu 1*Feiqiu Wen Feiqiu Wen 1*
  • 1 Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Shenzhen, China
  • 2 People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Region, China
  • 3 Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Jaipur, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
  • 4 Teesside University, Middlesbrough, England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The emergence of ESBLs producing cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli isolates poses a threat to public health. This study aims to decipher the genetic landscape and gain insights into ESBL-producing E. coli strains belonging to the high-risk clone ST410 from paediatric patients.Methods: 29 E. coli ST410 isolates were collected from young children and subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing, Whole-genome sequencing (WGS), serotype analysis, MLST, ESBL genes, virulence genes, and plasmid profiling.Results: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing demonstrated a high level of resistance to cephalosporins followed by aminoglycoside, sulfonamide, carbapenem and penicillin group of antibiotics. However, n=20/29 shows MDR phenotype. Phylogenetic group B2 (n=15) dominated, followed by group D (n=7), group A (n=4), and group B1 (n=3). Serotyping analysis identified O1:H7 (n=8), O2:H1 (n=6), O8:H4 (n=5), O16:H5 (n=4), and O25:H4 (n=3). Other serotypes identified included O6:H1, O15:H5, and O18:H7 (n=1 each). The most commonly detected ESBL genes were blaCTX-M, (n=26), followed by blaTEM (n=23), and blaSHV (n=18). Additionally, blaOXA-1 (n=10), blaOXA-48 (n=5), blaKPC-2 (n=3), blaKPC-3 (n=2), blaNDM-1 (n=4), blaNDM-5 (n=1), blaGES-1 (n=2), blaGES-5 (n=1), and blaCYM-1 (n=3).Notable virulence genes identified within the ST410 isolates included fimH (n=29), papC (n=24), hlyA (n=22), and cnf1 (n=18), among others. Diverse plasmids were observed including IncFIS, IncX4, IncFIA, IncCol, IncI2 and IncFIC with transmission frequency ranges from 1.3X10 -2 to 2.7X10 -3 .The ST410 clone exhibited a complex resistance profile, diverse serotypes, the presence of specific resistance genes (ESBL genes), virulence gene repertoire, and diverse plasmids. The blaCTX-M was the most prevalent ESBL gene detected.

    Keywords: Paediatric patients, Antimicrobial susceptibility, WGS, Cephalosporin Resistance, International high-risk clone ST410

    Received: 19 Mar 2024; Accepted: 08 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 PATIL, PAI, Chen, Chen, Xinye, Dong, Kaushik, Bruno, Chen, Liu and Wen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Si-xi Liu, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Shenzhen, China
    Feiqiu Wen, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Shenzhen, China

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