Clonal dissemination of highly virulent Serratia marcescens strains producing KPC-2 in food-producing animals

Tiago Barcelos Valiatti; Francisco Ozório Bessa-Neto; Fernanda Fernandes Santos; Ramon Giovanni Brandão Silva; Ruanita Veiga; Dandara Cassu-Corsi; Tuane Carolina Ferreira Moura; Amalia Raiana Fonseca Lobato; Antonio Carlos Campos Pignatari; Cintya Oliveira Souza; Danielle Murici Brasiliense; Rodrigo Cayô; Ana Cristina Gales; GUARANI Network

doi:10.1016/j.onehlt.2023.100591

Clonal dissemination of highly virulent Serratia marcescens strains producing KPC-2 in food-producing animals

One Health. 2023 Jun 21:17:100591. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2023.100591. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Tiago Barcelos Valiatti¹, Francisco Ozório Bessa-Neto^{1

2}, Fernanda Fernandes Santos¹, Ramon Giovanni Brandão Silva^{1

2}, Ruanita Veiga¹, Dandara Cassu-Corsi¹, Tuane Carolina Ferreira Moura³, Amalia Raiana Fonseca Lobato³, Antonio Carlos Campos Pignatari^{1

4}, Cintya Oliveira Souza³, Danielle Murici Brasiliense³, Rodrigo Cayô^{1

2}, Ana Cristina Gales^{1

4}; GUARANI Network

Affiliations

¹ Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Laboratório Alerta, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
² Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Laboratório de Imunologia e Bacteriologia (LIB), Setor de Biologia Molecular, Microbiologia e Imunologia, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas (DCB), Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas (ICAQF), Diadema, SP, Brazil.
³ Seção de Bacteriologia e Micologia, Instituto Evandro Chagas (IEC), Secretaria de Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovação e Insumos Estratégicos em Saúde (SCTIE), Ministério da Saúde, Ananindeua, PA, Brazil.
⁴ Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Laboratório Especial de Microbiologia Clínica (LEMC), Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

Abstract

Serratia marcescens is a Gram-negative bacterium presenting intrinsic resistance to polymyxins that has emerged as an important human pathogen. Although previous studies reported the occurrence of multidrug-resistance (MDR) S. marcescens isolates in the nosocomial settings, herein, we described isolates of this extensively drug-resistant (XDR) species recovered from stool samples of food-producing animals in the Brazilian Amazon region. Three carbapenem-resistant S. marcescens strains were recovered from stool samples of poultry and cattle. Genetic similarity analysis showed that these strains belonged to the same clone. Whole-genome sequencing of a representative strain (SMA412) revealed a resistome composed of genes encoding resistance to β-lactams [bla_KPC-2, bla_SRT-2], aminoglycosides [aac(6')-Ib3, aac(6')-Ic, aph(3')-VIa], quinolones [aac(6')-Ib-cr], sulfonamides [sul2], and tetracyclines [tet(41)]. In addition, the analysis of the virulome demonstrated the presence of important genes involved in the pathogenicity of this species (lipBCD, pigP, flhC, flhD, phlA, shlA, and shlB). Our data demonstrate that food-animal production can act as reservoirs for MDR and virulent strains of S. marcescens.

Keywords: Amazon region; Antimicrobial resistance; Food-production-animal; Genomic surveillance; One health.