IDENTIFICATION OF VIRULENCE FACTORS AMONG ESBL-PRODUCING ESCHERICHIA COLI CLINICAL ISOLATES FROM GAZA STRIP, PALESTINE

Ghassan Tayh,Manisha Yadav,Rym Ben Sallem,Vivek Verma,Daram Nagarjuna,Houssem Ben Yahia,Karim Ben Slama,Haythem Gharsa

doi:10.15414/jmbfs.2865

Abstract

This study was done to assess the occurrence of virulence factors and correlation of phylogenetic grouping in ESBLs producing E. coli isolates from Palestine. Twenty-seven ESBLs producing E. coli isolates were collected between April and June 2013 from three hospitals in Gaza. Detection of genes encoding virulence factors, pathogenicity associated island marker (PAI) and phylogenetic groups were studied by PCR. The correlation of E. coli phylogenetic grouping with the virulence factors in the isolates was studied. The clonal relationships between the isolates were tested by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Overall, 44.4% of the 27 E. coli isolates belonged to phylogroup B2, 44.4% to D and 11.2% to A. Among the isolates, fimH, traT and fimA were the most frequent virulence genes and were found over 85% of the isolates. PAIs was found in 8 isolates while the tcpC gene was detected in one isolate. The overall prevalence of PAI was higher in group B2 as compared to groups A and D (p<0.043). A clonal diversity was confirmed among our isolates (27 unrelated PFGE profiles). We report for the first time the prevalence of tcpC as a new virulence marker and PAI in clinical ESBLs-producing E. coli in Palestine. This study indicates that most of the ESBL- positive isolates showed virulence genes and most strains belonged to phylogenetic groups B2 and D. The study suggested that high number of virulence genes in studied strains may be important factors in the infections development.

Highlights

Escherichia coli are common inhabitant microorganism of the human intestinal and various animals
We have studies the antibiotics resistance, phylogenetic grouping and virulence factors (VFs), in 27 ESBL containing E. coli isolated from urine and wound swabs from three Palestinian hospitals
The results indicate that E. coli from phylogenetic groups B2 and D were predominate in our isolates

Summary

Introduction

Escherichia coli are common inhabitant microorganism of the human intestinal and various animals. Studies indicate that the commensal strains belong to phylogenetic groups B1 and A. The TIR homologous protein TcpC has been detected in E. coli strains acts as a virulence factor by inhibiting innate host responses, enhancing persistence of bacteria and increase infection severity. The virulence factors in ESBL-positive E. coli isolates were studied from different cases in different countries, from healthy school children in India (Zhang et al, 2002), from long-term hospitalized patients in China (Zhao et al, 2015) and diarrheic cattle in France (Wayne, 2014). The objective of this work was to investigate phylogenetic group and major VFs among ESBLs producing E. coli isolates from Palestinian hospitals in Gaza Strip. This study is the first investigation of the prevalence of virulence factors, PAI and tcpC among ESBLs producing E. coli isolates and of the association of virulence factors with the phylogenetic group in ESBLs producing E. coli isolates in Palestine

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