Emergence of IncHI2 Plasmid-Harboring blaNDM-5 from Porcine Escherichia coli Isolates in Guangdong, China

Zhenbao Ma; Zhenling Zeng; Jiao Liu; Chang Liu; Yu Pan; Yanan Zhang; Yafei Li

doi:10.3390/pathogens10080954

Emergence of IncHI2 Plasmid-Harboring blaNDM-5 from Porcine Escherichia coli Isolates in Guangdong, China

Pathogens. 2021 Jul 29;10(8):954. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10080954.

Authors

Zhenbao Ma^{1

2}, Zhenling Zeng^{2

3}, Jiao Liu^{2

3}, Chang Liu^{2

3}, Yu Pan^{2

3}, Yanan Zhang⁴, Yafei Li¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Quality Standard and Monitoring Technology for Agro-Products, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Veterinary Pharmaceutics Development and Safety Evaluation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
³ National Risk Assessment Laboratory for Antimicrobial Resistance of Animal Original Bacteria, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
⁴ Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550005, China.

Abstract

Carbapenem resistance has posed potential harmful risks to human and animals. The objectives of this study were to understand the prevalence of bla_NDM-5 in pigs and investigate the molecular characteristics of NDM-5-producing Escherichia coli isolates in Guangdong province in China. Carbapenem-resistant E. coli isolates were isolated from pigs and obtained using MacConkey plates containing 0.5 mg/L meropenem. Conjugation assay and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were conducted for the isolates and their transconjugants. Whole-genome sequence (WGS) was used to analyze the plasmid genetic feature. A total of five bla_NDM-5-carrying E. coli isolates were obtained in the present investigations. They belonged to five ST types. The bla_NDM-5 genes were found to be in IncX3 and IncHI2 plasmid. The IncX3 plasmid was 46,161 bp in size and identical to other reports. IncHI2 plasmid was 246,593 bp in size and similar to other IncHI2-ST3 plasmids. It consisted of a typical IncHI2 plasmid backbone region and a multiresistance region (MRR). The bla_NDM-5 was closely associated with the IS3000-ISAba125-blaNDM-5-bleMBL-trpF-tat-IS26 unit. We first reported the bla_NDM-5-carrying IncHI2 in E. coli isolates recovered from pigs and revealed the molecular characterization. Continued surveillance for the dissemination of bla_NDM-5 among food-producing animals is required.

Keywords: Escherichia coli; IncHI2 plasmid; blaNDM-5; resistance.