Abstract
Abstract Because little is known about the integrons which constitute an important means of spreading resistance in bacteria circulating in Romania, this study aimed to detect antibiotic resistance gene cassettes embedded in integrons in a convenient collection of 60 ciprofloxacin-resistant Escherichia coli isolates of various phylogroups, associated with community-acquired urinary tract infections. Characterization of the integrons was accomplished by PCR, restriction fragment length polymorphism typing, and DNA sequencing of each identified type. More than half of the tested E. coli strains were positive for integrons of class 1 (31 strains) or 2 (1 strain). These strains derived more frequently from phylogenetic groups A (15 of 21 strains), B1 (10 of 14 strains), and F (3 of 4 strains), respectively. While 20 strains carried class 1 integrons which could be assigned to nine types, eleven strains carried integrons that lacked the 3’-end conserved segment. The attempts made to characterize the gene cassettes located within the variable region of the various integrons identified in this study revealed the presence of genes encoding resistance to trimethoprim, aminoglycosides, beta-lactams or chloramphenicol. The evidence of transferable resistance determinants already established in the autochthonous E. coli strains highlights the need for improved control of resistance-carrying bacteria.
Highlights
Reports from all over the world indicate an increasing number of infections caused by bacteria with resistance to the antimicrobial agents currently used in medical practice [1,2,3]
In 2017, the ECDC team that conducted a visit to Romania to discuss and assess the situation regarding prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance concluded that the levels of antimicrobial resistance were a serious concern of this country, recommending to the national authorities to designate antimicrobial resistance as a national public health threat encompassing all regions
Aiming to deliver much better laboratory data in order to fill some of the information gaps concerning the pathogens reported in the Romanian population, we extended the investigation of E. coli strains collected from UTIs to demonstrate the presence of integron-like structures with resistance gene cassettes embedded in them
Summary
Reports from all over the world indicate an increasing number of infections caused by bacteria with resistance to the antimicrobial agents currently used in medical practice [1,2,3]. Integrons are genetic platforms capable of incorporating such cassettes by site-specific recombination and providing a promotor for the expression of the antibiotic resistance determinants contained in them. They gain mobility by association with transposons or plasmids and, thereby, play a major role in the spread of the antibiotic resistance genes by horizontal gene transfer [6,7]. This study aimed to provide a summary indication of the presence and the variety of integron-associated antibiotic resistance genes harbored by the Romanian E. coli strains in order to shed light on their profile otherwise invisible in the international pool of data on integrons.
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