opr L Gene Sequencing, Resistance Patterns, Virulence Genes, Quorum Sensing and Antibiotic Resistance Genes of XDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Broiler Chickens

Abdelazeem M Algammal; Nada H Eidaroos; Khyreyah J Alfifi; Marfat Alatawy; Alhanouf I Al-Harbi; Yasmene F Alanazi; Madeha O I Ghobashy; Ahmed R Khafagy; Aboelkheir M Esawy; Soha S El-Sadda; Helal F Hetta; Reham M El-Tarabili

doi:10.2147/IDR.S401473

opr L Gene Sequencing, Resistance Patterns, Virulence Genes, Quorum Sensing and Antibiotic Resistance Genes of XDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Broiler Chickens

Infect Drug Resist. 2023 Feb 13:16:853-867. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S401473. eCollection 2023.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bacteriology, Immunology, and Mycology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.
² Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Medical Laboratory, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁷ Animal Health Research Institute, Mansoura, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.

Abstract

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is incriminated in septicemia, significant economic losses in the poultry production sector, and severe respiratory infections in humans. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence, oprL sequencing, antimicrobial resistance patterns, virulence-determinant, Quorum sensing, and antibiotic resistance genes of P. aeruginosa retrieved from broiler chickens.

Methods: Two hundred samples were collected from 120 broiler chickens from broiler farms at Ismailia Governorate, Egypt. Consequently, the bacteriological examination was conducted and the obtained P. aeruginosa strains were tested for oprL gene sequencing, antibiogram, and PCR screening of virulence, Quorum sensing, and antibiotic resistance genes.

Results: The overall prevalence of P. aeruginosa in the examined birds was 28.3%. The oprL gene sequence analysis underlined that the tested strain expressed a notable genetic identity with various P. aeruginosa strains isolated from different geographical areas in the USA, India, China, Chile, and Ghana. PCR evidenced that the obtained P. aeruginosa strains, carrying virulence-related genes: oprL, toxA, aprA, phzM, and exoS in a prevalence of 100%, 100%, 42.5%, 33.3%, and 25.9%, respectively. Moreover, the recovered P. aeruginosa strains possessed the Quorum sensing genes: lasI, lasR, rhlI, and rhlR in a prevalence of 85.2%, 85.2%, 81.5%, and 81.5%, respectively. Furthermore, 40.7% of the isolated P. aeruginosa were XDR to seven antimicrobial classes, possessing sul1, bla _TEM, tetA, bla _CTX-M, bla _OXA-1, and aadA1 genes.

Conclusion: As we can tell, this is the first report emphasizing the evolution of XDR P. aeruginosa strains from broiler chicken in Egypt, which is supposed to be a serious threat to public health. The emerging XDR P. aeruginosa in poultry frequently harbored the oprL, toxA, and aprA virulence genes, the lasI, lasR, rhlI, and rhlR Quorum sensing genes, and the sul1, bla _TEM, tetA, bla _CTXM, bla _OXA-1, and aadA1 resistance genes.

Keywords: MDR; P. aeruginosa; Quorum sensing; XDR; oprL sequence analysis; resistance genes; virulence genes.