Characterization of the genetic structure of mcr-1 gene among Escherichia coli isolates recovered from surface waters and sediments from Ecuador

William Calero-Cáceres; Daniel Tadesse; Katherine Jaramillo; Xavier Villavicencio; Efraín Mero; Liliana Lalaleo; Caitlin Welsh; José E Villacís; Emmanuelle Quentin; Henry Parra; Maria Soledad Ramirez; Anthony D Harries; José L Balcázar

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150566

Characterization of the genetic structure of mcr-1 gene among Escherichia coli isolates recovered from surface waters and sediments from Ecuador

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Feb 1;806(Pt 2):150566. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150566. Epub 2021 Sep 25.

Affiliations

¹ UTA-RAM-One Health, Department of Food and Biotechnology Science and Engineering, Universidad Técnica de Ambato, Ambato, Ecuador; Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Técnica de Ambato, Cevallos, Ecuador. Electronic address: wr.calero@uta.edu.ec.
² U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine, Office of Research Laurel, MD 20708, USA.
³ Centro de Referencia Nacional de Resistencia a los Antimicrobianos RAM, Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Salud Pública "Dr. Leopoldo Izquieta Pérez" INSPI, Quito, Ecuador.
⁴ Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Técnica de Ambato, Cevallos, Ecuador.
⁵ UTA-RAM-One Health, Department of Food and Biotechnology Science and Engineering, Universidad Técnica de Ambato, Ambato, Ecuador.
⁶ Centro de Investigación Microbiológica Dr. Henry Parra, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
⁷ Department of Biological Science, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, USA.
⁸ International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Paris, France; London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
⁹ Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), 17003 Girona, Spain; University of Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain.

PMID: 34582864
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150566

Abstract

Although anthropogenic activities contribute to the selection and spread of antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments, limited information is available from countries with absent or incomplete sewage treatment systems and the impact of their discharges onto water bodies. This study therefore aimed to characterize the genetic structure of colistin resistance (mcr) genes among Escherichia coli isolates recovered from surface waters and sediments in Ecuador. Out of 459 isolates, four Escherichia coli showed multidrug-resistant phenotypes, which harbored the mcr-1 gene and β-lactamases, such as bla_TEM, bla_CTX-M-15, bla_CTX-M-55, or bla_CTX-M-65 genes. Three E. coli isolates (U20, U30 and U144) shared a similar genetic environment surrounding the mcr-1 gene, which was located on plasmids. Only one E. coli isolate (U175) showed that the mcr-1 gene was chromosomally located. Moreover, the core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) analysis revealed that these isolates belong to different lineages. This study represents the first detection of the mcr-1 gene in multidrug-resistant E. coli isolates from environmental samples in Ecuador.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance; Environment; Escherichia coli; Mcr-1 gene.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Ecuador
Escherichia coli Proteins* / genetics
Escherichia coli* / genetics
Plasmids

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Escherichia coli Proteins
MCR-1 protein, E coli