Prevalence and Characterization of Quinolone-Resistance Determinants in Escherichia coli Isolated from Food-Producing Animals and Animal-Derived Food in the Philippines

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance to quinolones, which constitutes a threat to public health, has been increasing worldwide. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of quinolone-resistant determinants in Escherichia coli not susceptible to quinolones and isolated from food-producing animals and food derived from them, in the Philippines. A total of 791 E. coli strains were isolated in 56.4% of 601 beef, chicken, pork, egg, and milk samples, as well as environmental, cloacal, and rectal swab-collected samples from supermarkets, open markets, abattoirs, and poultry, swine, and buffalo farms. Using the disc diffusion method, it was determined that 78.6% and 55.4% of the isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial and multiple drugs, respectively. In 141 isolates not susceptible to quinolones, 115 (81.6%) harbored quinolone-resistant determinants and had mutations predominantly in the quinolone-resistance determining regions (QRDRs) of gyrA and parC. Plasmid-mediated, quinolone resistance (PMQR) and Qnr family (qnrA1, qnrB4, and qnrS1) genes were detected in all isolates. Forty-eight sequence types were identified in isolates harboring mutations in QRDR and/or PMQR genes by multilocus sequence typing analysis. Moreover, 26 isolates harboring mutations in QRDR and/or PMQR genes belonged mostly to phylogroup B1 and Enteroaggregative E. coli. In conclusion, a high prevalence of E. coli was found in food-producing animals and products derived from them, which could potentially spread high-risk clones harboring quinolone-resistance determinants.

Distribution pattern of antibiotic resistance genes in Escherichia coli isolated from colibacillosis cases in broiler farms of Egypt

“…Plasmid quinolone resistance genes harbor many qnr alleles, which have been found The same examined strains showed low percentages of 7% and 0% for qnrA and qnrB, respectively, but this may be because quinolone resistance is controlled by another group of genes, such as integrons, which were detected in 93% of isolates. These findings are lower than those described previously by Belotindos et al [18], who detected the Qnr family (qnrA1, qnrB4, and qnrS1) in all tested isolates.…”

“…These findings are lower than those described previously by Belotindos et al . [ 18 ], who detected the Qnr family ( qnrA1 , qnrB4 , and qnrS1 ) in all tested isolates.…”

“…The presence of quinolone resistance genes in bacteria is an evolving problem in E. coli infection control. Quinolones work by interfering with gyrase and topoisomerase IV activity, leading to fragmentation of the bacterial chromosome; this subsequently drives mutations in the gyrase and topoisomerase IV genes and the development of bacterial resistance to quinolones [ 17 , 18 ].…”

Emergence of Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli Producing CTX-M, MCR-1, and FosA in Retail Food From Egypt

“…arizonae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; 58.7% of these isolates carried at least one qnr gene ( Khalifa et al., 2019 ). The existence of qnr -producing E. coli in retail chicken and beef meat as reported in recent studies from different countries including Egypt ( Moawad et al., 2017 ), the United States ( Tyson et al., 2019 ) and Philippines ( Belotindos et al., 2021 ), poses a serious public health threat. The functional qnr VC gene had been commonly identified in Vibrionaceae family ( Zhang et al., 2018 ) and in P. aeruginosa isolates in China ( Lin et al., 2020 ) playing a crucial role in quinolone resistance.…”

Occurrence of EBSL and quinolone resistance genes among Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from poultry, domestic pigs and environment in the Msimbazi River Basin in Tanzania

“…A total of 130 non-duplicate multidrug resistant E. coli (95) and K. pneumoniae (35) isolates from poultry (40), domestic pigs (52) and environment (38) was selected from stored isolates obtained between July 2020 and April 2021 [43,44]. These isolates were randomly selected from a total of 504 isolates from domestic pigs (193), poultry (151) and environment (160) and depicted resistance to more than three different classes of antibiotics [45].…”