The presence and transfer of plasmids from commensal bacteria to more pathogenic bacteria may contribute to the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance. However, the prevalence of plasmids from commensal bacteria, such as the enterococci, in food animals remains largely unknown. In this study, the diversity and prevalence of plasmid families from multidrug-resistant (MDR; resistance to three or more antimicrobials) enterococci from poultry carcasses were determined. Plasmid-positive MDR enterococci were also tested for the ability to transfer plasmids to other enterococci using conjugation. MDR Enterococcus faecalis (n = 98) and Enterococcus faecium (n = 696) that were isolated from poultry carcass rinsates between 2004 and 2011 were tested for the presence of 21 plasmid replicon (rep) families using multiplex PCR. Approximately 48% of E. faecalis (47/98) and 16% of E. faecium (110/696) were positive for at least one rep-family. Fourteen rep-families were detected overall, and ten rep-families were shared between E. faecalis and E. faecium. The rep7 and rep17 families were unique to E. faecalis, while the rep5 and rep8 families were unique to E. faecium. The rep9 family was predominant in both E. faecalis and E. faecium for all the years tested. The greatest number of rep-families detected was in 2005 (n = 10), and the least was in 2009 (n = 1). Eight rep-families were transferred from E. faecalis donors to the E. faecalis JH2-2 recipient using conjugation. Results from this study showed that E. faecalis and E. faecium from poultry carcasses contain numerous and diverse rep-families that are capable of conjugal transfer.
Keywords: Enterococcus; antimicrobial resistance; conjugation; plasmids; poultry.