Detection and Genomic Characterization of a Morganella morganii Isolate From China That Produces NDM-5

Abstract

The increasing prevalence and transmission of the carbapenem resistance gene bla NDM–5 has led to a severe threat to public health. So far, bla NDM–5 has been widely detected in various species of Enterobacterales and different hosts across various cities. However, there is no report on the bla NDM–5– harboring Morganella morganii. In January 2016, the first NDM-5-producing Morganella morganii L241 was found in a stool sample of a patient diagnosed as recurrence of liver cancer in China. Identification of the species was performed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Carbapenemase genes were identified through both PCR and sequencing. To investigate the characteristics and complete genome sequence of the bla NDM–5 -harboring clinical isolate, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, S1 nuclease pulsed field gel electrophoresis, Southern blotting, transconjugation experiment, complete genome sequencing, and comparative genomic analysis were performed. M. morganii L241 was found to be resistant to broad-spectrum cephalosporins and carbapenems. The complete genome of L241 is made up from both a 3,850,444 bp circular chromosome and a 46,161 bp self-transmissible IncX3 plasmid encoding bla NDM–5 , which shared a conserved genetic context of bla NDM–5 (ΔIS 3000 -ΔIS Aba125 -IS 5 - bla NDM–5 - ble - trpF - dsbC -IS 26 ). BLASTn analysis showed that IncX3 plasmids harboring bla NDM genes have been found in 15 species among Enterobacterales from 13 different countries around the world thus far. In addition, comparative genomic analysis showed that M. morganii L241 exhibits a close relationship to M. morganii subsp. morganii KT with 107 SNPs. Our research demonstrated that IncX3 is a key element in the worldwide dissemination of bla NDM - 5 among various species. Further research will be necessary to control and prevent the spread of such plasmids.

The Current Burden of Carbapenemases: Review of Significant Properties and Dissemination among Gram-Negative Bacteria

“…For instance, NDM-1 is currently the main carbapenemase in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, as well as in specific European countries, including Romania, Denmark, and Poland, mostly in K. pneumoniae and E. coli [71]. Morganella morgani was shown to harbor NDM-5 recently in reports from China [196], and GES-5 in reports from Brazil [197]. KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae are endemic in the United States, Colombia, Argentina, Greece, and Italy, and cause epidemics in China and the Middle East [188].…”

Sequencing of five poultry strains elucidates phylogenetic relationships and divergence in virulence genes in Morganella morganii

“…As plasmid information is only available for some of the published strains (i.e. [7,8,[27][28][29]), we screened all the strains of Fig. 2 using PlasmidFinder [16] for the presence of plasmids and results are shown in Fig.…”

Genotypic and Phenotypic Characterization of blaNDM–7-Harboring IncX3 Plasmid in a ST11 Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolated From a Pediatric Patient in China

“…pB14NDM-7 contained a conserved genetic context of ISkox3-umuD-IS26-ΔTn125 -IS5- ΔTn125-IS3000-ΔTn2. The bla NDM genetic structure is common in enterobacteriaceae for the horizontal transfer of bla NDM and has been reported in the transmission of bla NDM– 7 and bla NDM– 5 ( Zhang et al, 2016 ; Guo et al, 2019 ). In addition, plasmids pB14NDM-7 and pJN05NDM-7 were from the same hospital.…”