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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. One Health
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1442159
This article is part of the Research Topic Bioinformatics approaches to investigate antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in human, animal and environment View all 3 articles

A Global Perspective on the Abundance, Diversity and Mobility of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Escherichia coli

Provisionally accepted
Yun Qing Yun Qing 1*Zhongai Zou Zhongai Zou 2*Guolian Jiang Guolian Jiang 1*Lingshi Qin Lingshi Qin 1*Kehui Liu Kehui Liu 1*Zongbao Liu Zongbao Liu 1*
  • 1 College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, China
  • 2 College of Environment and Public Health, Xiamen Huaxia University, Fujian, China

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

    Escherichia coli (E. coli), a ubiquitous opportunistic pathogen, increasingly threatens health due to rising antibiotic resistance. However, a thorough understanding of the global prevalence and distribution of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in E. coli is lacking. This study analyzed 94,762 E. coli genomes from the NCBI database using advanced bioinformatics to understand the global distribution, diversity, and transmission of ARGs. Our results showed that 50.51% of the E. coli genome sequences contained ARGs, revealing 301,317 ARGs sequences across 12 major categories and 229 subtypes.Notably, ARGs associated with multi-drug resistance (MDR), β-lactams, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramins (MLS), tetracyclines, and aminoglycosides were highly abundant, with subtypes mdtK, macB, and ampC being particularly prevalent. The study also highlighted significant differences in ARGs abundance and diversity between countries, with higher diversity observed in high-income nations. Furthermore, 9.28% of ARGs sequences were linked to mobile genetic elements (MGEs), encompassing 98.25% of ARGs subtypes. Analysis of 1,453 MGE-associated ARGs operational taxonomic units (OTUs), clustered at 99% similarity, indicated that 4.20% of mobile ARGs were identified in over 20 countries, with β-lactam and aminoglycoside ARGs most widespread. This research enhances our understanding of ARGs distribution and transmission in E. coli, crucial for developing global strategies to combat antibiotic resistance.

    Keywords: Escherichia coli, antibiotic resistance genes, mobile genetic elements, gene transfer, global perspective

    Received: 01 Jun 2024; Accepted: 31 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Qing, Zou, Jiang, Qin, Liu and Liu. 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:
    Yun Qing, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, China
    Zhongai Zou, College of Environment and Public Health, Xiamen Huaxia University, Fujian, China
    Guolian Jiang, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, China
    Lingshi Qin, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, China
    Kehui Liu, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, China
    Zongbao Liu, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, China

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