Genetic and antimicrobial resistance profiles of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli from different sources in Egypt

Mohamed Sabry Abd Elraheam Elsayed; Samah Mahmoud Eldsouky; Tamer Roshdy; Abeer Mohamed Ahmed Bayoume; Ghada M Nasr; Ali S A Salama; Behiry A Akl; Al Shaimaa Hasan; Amany Kasem Shahat; Rana Atef Khashaba; Walid Abdellatif Abdelhalim; Hend E Nasr; Lina Abdelhady Mohammed; Ahmed Salah

doi:10.1186/s12866-021-02308-w

Genetic and antimicrobial resistance profiles of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli from different sources in Egypt

BMC Microbiol. 2021 Sep 23;21(1):257. doi: 10.1186/s12866-021-02308-w.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bacteriology, Mycology, and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sadat City, Sadat City, Menoufia, Egypt. mohamed.sabry@vet.usc.edu.eg.
² Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
³ Department of Molecular Biology, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, University of Sadat City, Sadat City, Menoufia, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, University of Sadat City, Sadat City, Menoufia, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Molecular Diagnostics, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, University of Sadat City, Sadat City, Menoufia, 32897, Egypt.
⁶ Microbiology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
⁷ Department of Medical Pharmacology, Qena Faculty of Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
⁹ Department of Clinical Pathology and Chemistry, Benha Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
¹⁰ Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.

Abstract

Background: The Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) represented a great risk to public health. In this study, 60 STEC strains recovered from broiler and duck fecal samples, cow's milk, cattle beef, human urine, and ear discharge were screened for 12 virulence genes, phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial resistance, and multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA).

Results: The majority of strains harbored Shiga toxin 1 (stx₁) and stx_1d, stx₂ and stx_2e, and ehxA genes, while a minority harbored stx_2c subtype and eaeA. We identified 10 stx gene combinations; most of strains 31/60 (51.7%) exhibited four copies of stx genes, namely the stx₁, stx_1d, stx₂, and stx_2e, and the strains exhibited a high range of multiple antimicrobial resistance indices. The resistance genes blaCTX-M-1 and blaTEM were detected. For the oxytetracycline resistance genes, most of strains contained tetA, tetB, tetE, and tetG while the tetC was present at low frequency. MLVA genotyping resolved 26 unique genotypes; genotype 21 was highly prevalent. The six highly discriminatory loci DI = 0.9138 are suitable for the preliminary genotyping of STEC from animals and humans.

Conclusions: The STEC isolated from animals are virulent, resistant to antimicrobials, and genetically diverse, thus demands greater attention for the potential risk to human.

Keywords: Animals and human; Antimicrobial resistance genes; MLVA genotyping; Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli; Virulence genes.

MeSH terms

Animals
Cattle / microbiology
Chickens / microbiology
Drug Resistance, Bacterial / genetics*
Egypt / epidemiology
Escherichia coli Infections / epidemiology
Escherichia coli Infections / microbiology
Escherichia coli Infections / urine
Escherichia coli Infections / veterinary*
Farmers
Feces / microbiology
Genes, Bacterial
Genotype
Humans
Minisatellite Repeats
Serogroup
Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coli / classification
Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coli / drug effects*
Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coli / genetics*
Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coli / pathogenicity
Virulence