Genomic Analysis of Acinetobacter baumannii Isolates Carrying OXA-23 and OXA-58 Genes from Animals Reveals ST1 and ST25 as Major Clonal Lineages

Lisa Jacobmeyer; Torsten Semmler; Ivonne Stamm; Christa Ewers

doi:10.3390/antibiotics11081045

Genomic Analysis of Acinetobacter baumannii Isolates Carrying OXA-23 and OXA-58 Genes from Animals Reveals ST1 and ST25 as Major Clonal Lineages

Antibiotics (Basel). 2022 Aug 3;11(8):1045. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics11081045.

Authors

Lisa Jacobmeyer¹, Torsten Semmler², Ivonne Stamm³, Christa Ewers¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Hygiene and Infectious Diseases of Animals, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
² NG1 Microbial Genomics, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
³ Vet Med Labor GmbH, 70806 Kornwestheim, Germany.

Abstract

Acinetobacter baumannii is increasingly being recognized as a relevant pathogen for animals with a putative zoonotic impact. This study aimed at identifying and characterizing carbapenemase-producing A. baumannii from animals. Among 503 A. baumannii, mainly isolated from dogs/cats (75.7%) between 2013 and 2018, 42 isolates from 22 veterinary clinics (VCs) harboured bla_OXA-58 (n = 29) or bla_OXA-23 (n = 13). The bla_OXA-58 gene was located on plasmids (11.4-21.1 kb) within different genetic surroundings (patterns A-D). Bla_OXA-23 was embedded in Tn2006 on the chromosome (n = 4; pattern a) or Tn2008 on plasmids (n = 9; 41.2-71.3 kb; patterns b-e). The predominant IC1-ST1^P-OXA-58 (66.7%; 96.4% cgMLST complex type (CT)-1808) was disseminated among 11 VCs in Germany. Resistance islands AbaR3-like (n = 15) and AbaR10 (n = 1) have emerged among ST1-isolates since 2016. IC7-ST25^P-OXA-23 isolates (21.4%) occurred in seven VCs in Germany, France and Italy and differed in their resistance gene patterns from those of OXA-58 isolates. They were separated into six CTs, basically according to their regional origin. Other STs observed were ST10, ST578 and ST602. In conclusion, OXA-23 and OXA-58 were linked with ST1 and ST25, two globally distributed lineages in humans. The suggested transmission of certain lineages within and among VCs together with the acquisition of AbaR islands hints at a successful dissemination of multidrug-resistant strains in the VC environment.

Keywords: OXA; carbapanemase; companion animal; international clone; resistance island; veterinary.

Grants and funding

L.J. was financially supported by the “Akademie für Tiergesundheit e.V.” The APC was funded by the Open Access Publication Funds of the Justus Liebig University Giessen, granted by the German Research Foundation.