1
|
Zaghloul HAH, El Halfawy NM. Genomic insights into antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes of Enterococcus faecium strains from the gut of Apis mellifera. Microb Genom 2022; 8:mgen000896. [PMID: 36374179 PMCID: PMC9836096 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Enterococcus faecium is a lactic acid bacterium that confers beneficial health effects in humans. However, lately, a number of E. faecium strains have been linked to the spread of nosocomial infections in the hospital environment. Therefore, any potential commercial usage of E. faecium isolates should be preceded by an assessment of infection risk. In the current study, the genomes of two novel E. faecium strains Am1 (larval isolate) and Bee9 (adult bee isolate) isolated from the gut of Apis mellifera L. (honeybee) were sequenced to allow evaluation of their safety. In particular, their genomes were screened for antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes. In addition, their potential to spread resistance in the environment was evaluated. The analysis revealed that Am1 and Bee9 possess 2832 and 2844 protein-encoding genes, respectively. In each case, the genome size was 2.7 Mb with a G+C content of 37.9 mol%. Comparative analysis with probiotic, non-pathogenic and pathogenic enterococci revealed that there are variations between the two bee E. faecium isolates and pathogenic genomes. They were, however, closely linked to the probiotic comparison strains. Phenotypically, the Am1 and Bee9 strains were susceptible to most antibiotics tested, but showed intermediate sensitivity towards erythromycin, linezolid and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Notably, no genes associated with antibiotic resistance in clinical isolates (e.g. vancomycin resistance: vanA, vanB, vanS, vanX and vanY) were present. In addition, the insertion sequences (IS16, ISEfa11 and ISEfa5), acting as molecular pathogenicity markers in clinically relevant E. faecium strains, were also absent. Moreover, the analysis revealed the absence of three key pathogenicity-associated genes (acm, sgrA, ecbA) in the Am1 and Bee9 strains that are found in the prominent clinical isolates DO, V1836, Aus0004 and Aus0085. Overall, the findings of this investigation suggest that the E. faecium isolates from the bee gut have not suffered any recent clinically relevant antibiotic exposure. It also suggests that E. faecium Am1 and Bee9 are safe potential probiotic strains, because they lack the phenotypic and genetic features associated with strains eliciting nosocomial infections.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Heba A. H. Zaghloul
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21511, Egypt
| | - Nancy M. El Halfawy
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21511, Egypt,*Correspondence: Nancy M. El Halfawy,
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Boodaghi Malidareh E, Ahanjan M, Asgharzadeh Marghmalek S, Goli HR. Dissemination of Quinupristin-Dalfopristin and Linezolid resistance genes among hospital environmental and healthy volunteer fecal isolates of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium. Mol Biol Rep 2022; 49:7929-7937. [PMID: 35716285 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-022-07627-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Streptogramins and linezolid are important in the treatment of infections caused by vancomycin-resistant enterococci. PURPOSE Then, we aimed to evaluate the resistance rates against these drugs and the prevalence of genes involved in hospital environmental and fecal normal-flora isolates of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium. METHODS AND RESULTS The strains were isolated from the stool samples and hospital environments by culturing on M-Enterococcus (ME) agar, and identified by phenotypic and genotypic microbiological tests. The disk agar diffusion method was used to identify the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of the isolates. The genomic DNA extraction was done by the alkaline lysis method, and the PCR test was used to detect the resistance genes. A total of 145 enterococci isolates were taken, from which 84 (57.9%) isolates were detected as E. faecalis and 61 (42.06%) isolates were E. faecium. Moreover, 70 (83.33), 4 (4.76%), 1 (1.19%), and 40 (47.61%) isolates of E. faecalis and 20 (32.78%), 1 (1.63%), 4 (6.55%), and 26 (42.62%) E. faecium isolates were resistant against quinupristin-dalfopristin, linezolid, vancomycin, and erythromycin, respectively. Also, 112 (77.24%), 50 (34.48%), 39 (26.89%), 27 (18.62%), 19 (13.1%), 4 (2.75%), and 1 (0.68%) isolates were contained LsaA, vatD, vgbB, vatE, cfr, lsaE and optrA genes, respectively. None of the isolates carried the vgbA gene. CONCLUSIONS High-level streptogramin resistance rate and high prevalence of resistance genes in enterococci isolated from the stool of healthy persons and the hospital environment indicates the importance of possible transmission of resistance genes from these isolates to clinical ones.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elham Boodaghi Malidareh
- Antimicrobial Resistance Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
| | - Mohammad Ahanjan
- Antimicrobial Resistance Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
| | - Saba Asgharzadeh Marghmalek
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
| | - Hamid Reza Goli
- Antimicrobial Resistance Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Evidence of Linezolid Resistance and Virulence Factors in Enterococcus spp. Isolates from Wild and Domestic Ruminants, Italy. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:antibiotics11020223. [PMID: 35203825 PMCID: PMC8868082 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11020223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Revised: 02/05/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the resistance patterns against selected critically and highly important antibiotics (quinupristin/dalfopristin, vancomycin, and linezolid) in 48 Enterococcus isolates obtained from wild (red deer and Apennine chamois) and domestic (cattle, sheep, and goats) ruminants living with varying degrees of sympatry in the protected area of Maiella National Park (central Italy). According to CLSI breakpoints, 9 out of 48 isolates (18.8%) showed resistance to at least one antibiotic. One Apennine chamois isolate was resistant to all tested antibiotics. The PCR screening of related resistance genes highlighted the occurrence of msrC or cfrD in seven Enterococcus resistant isolates. In addition, msrC and vanC genes were amplified in susceptible isolates. Specific sequences of virulence genes (gelE, ace, efa, asa1, and esp) related to pathogenic enterococci in humans were amplified in 21/48 isolates (43.75%), belonging mostly to wild animals (15/21; 71.42%). This is the first report of linezolid-resistant enterococci harboring virulence genes in Italian wildlife with special regard to the red deer and Apennine chamois species. The results allow us to evaluate the potential role of wild animals as indicators of antibiotic resistance in environments with different levels of anthropic pressure.
Collapse
|
4
|
Ravi A, Halstead FD, Bamford A, Casey A, Thomson NM, van Schaik W, Snelson C, Goulden R, Foster-Nyarko E, Savva GM, Whitehouse T, Pallen MJ, Oppenheim BA. Loss of microbial diversity and pathogen domination of the gut microbiota in critically ill patients. Microb Genom 2019; 5. [PMID: 31526447 PMCID: PMC6807385 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Among long-stay critically ill patients in the adult intensive care unit (ICU), there are often marked changes in the complexity of the gut microbiota. However, it remains unclear whether such patients might benefit from enhanced surveillance or from interventions targeting the gut microbiota or the pathogens therein. We therefore undertook a prospective observational study of 24 ICU patients, in which serial faecal samples were subjected to shotgun metagenomic sequencing, phylogenetic profiling and microbial genome analyses. Two-thirds of the patients experienced a marked drop in gut microbial diversity (to an inverse Simpson’s index of <4) at some stage during their stay in the ICU, often accompanied by the absence or loss of potentially beneficial bacteria. Intravenous administration of the broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent meropenem was significantly associated with loss of gut microbial diversity, but the administration of other antibiotics, including piperacillin/tazobactam, failed to trigger statistically detectable changes in microbial diversity. In three-quarters of ICU patients, we documented episodes of gut domination by pathogenic strains, with evidence of cryptic nosocomial transmission of Enterococcus faecium. In some patients, we also saw an increase in the relative abundance of apparent commensal organisms in the gut microbiome, including the archaeal species Methanobrevibacter smithii. In conclusion, we have documented a dramatic absence of microbial diversity and pathogen domination of the gut microbiota in a high proportion of critically ill patients using shotgun metagenomics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anuradha Ravi
- Quadram Institute Bioscience and University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7UA, UK
| | - Fenella D Halstead
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, B15 2GW, UK.,NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, B15 2GW, UK
| | - Amy Bamford
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, B15 2GW, UK.,NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, B15 2GW, UK
| | - Anna Casey
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, B15 2GW, UK.,NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, B15 2GW, UK
| | - Nicholas M Thomson
- Quadram Institute Bioscience and University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7UA, UK
| | - Willem van Schaik
- Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Catherine Snelson
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, B15 2GW, UK
| | | | | | - George M Savva
- Quadram Institute Bioscience and University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7UA, UK
| | - Tony Whitehouse
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TU, UK.,Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, B15 2GW, UK
| | - Mark J Pallen
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TU, UK.,Quadram Institute Bioscience and University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7UA, UK.,School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Surrey, Daphne Jackson Rd, Guildford GU2 7AL, UK
| | - Beryl A Oppenheim
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, B15 2GW, UK.,NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, B15 2GW, UK
| |
Collapse
|