Introduction
Most Escherichia coli strains are commensal microbiota in the mammalian gastrointestinal gut, yet some strains can cause severe diarrheal illnesses in humans [12]. These E. coli can be classified into six major types based on the presence of specific virulence traits: enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC), diffusely adherent E. coli (DAEC), enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), and enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC). ETEC is a major etiologic pathogen of diarrhea in children from developing countries and in travelers from developed countries to the developing world [20]. It has been observed that ETEC infections usually occur as a result of the ingestion of contaminated food or water [20]. EAEC has been implicated as a causal agent of diarrheal disease in both developing and developed countries [17] and has been associated with acute and persistent diarrhea in children, adults, and HIV/AIDS patients [9].
Third-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones are generally used for the treatment of enteric pathogens. However, the development of resistance to extendedspectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) in Enterobacteriaceae is becoming a great concern in developing countries. During the last decade, CTX-M beta-lactamases have spread rapidly among diarrheagenic E. coli strains, and the dominant types of CTX-M have been distributed worldwide [4]. In Korea, the prevalence of CTX-M-producing bacteria has increased since it was first reported in retrospective studies [15,19]. The CTX-M-14 and CTX-M-15 beta-lactamases have been the dominant types in various enteric bacteria [16,22,24], and a CTX-M-12 beta-lactamase was also recently reported [2]. However, EAEC strains have not previously been considered as ESBL-producers. Moreover, few data are available on the prevalence of ESBLs in ETEC or EAEC strains from patients with diarrhea. Here, we characterized diarrheagenic E. coli isolates with ESBL production in Korea.
Materials and Methods
Bacterial Strains
From 2008 to 2011, the National Public Health Network collected consecutive, non-duplicated E. coli strains that were isolated from patients with a clinical history of diarrhea. Bacteria were plated or incubated on MacConkey agar or Mueller-Hinton agar containing cefotaxime (10 μg/ml) when required. All isolates were identified by VITEK-2 system (bioMerieux, France) and serotyped by slide agglutination with O antigen-specific antisera [18]. Pathotypes of E. coli strains were determined by PCR analysis with specific primers for the following virulence genes: enterotoxins LT and STh for ETEC, and pCVD432 plasmid for EAEC [21]. The single colonies positive for pCVD432 were examined for aggR, aggA, aafA, aap, and astA genes as described previously [10]. The 111 ETEC strains from 2008 to 2010 and 141 EAEC strains from 2010 to 2011 were selected for this study and further characterized.
Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing
The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of different antibiotics were analyzed using VITEK-2 AST-N160 cards (bioMérieux), and were confirmed by a broth microdilution method using Sensititre ESB1F plates (Trek Diagnostic Systems, USA). All susceptibility results were interpreted using the breakpoints of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines [6]. E. coli ATCC 25922 and Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 700603 were used as quality control organisms in antimicrobial susceptibility experiments. Of these isolates, we selected seven ETEC and one EAEC with high-level resistance to third-generation cephalosporins.
Genetic Characterization of bla Genes
All isolates with an ESBL phenotype were tested by multiplex PCR for bla genes of the TEM, SHV, CMY, OXA, DHA, and CTX-M types, and the blaCTX-M genes were characterized by sequencing analysis of the amplicons [14]. For strains with a positive result for blaCTX-M, the physical linkages between an ISEcp1-like element and the blaCTX-M-12 or blaCTX-M-14 genes were determined by PCR and sequencing analysis [1].
Transfer of the bla Genes
The transmission capacity of the bla genes in ETEC or EAEC isolates was examined by conjugation experiments using azideresistant E. coli J53 as the recipient strain. Transconjugants were selected on MacConkey agar plates (Difco, USA) supplemented with cefotaxime (1 μg/ml) and sodium azide (100 μg/ml). The acquisition of the bla gene was confirmed by PCR and sequencing analysis as described above.
PCR-Based Replicon Typing of Plasmids
Replicon typing of plasmids carrying the blaCTX-M gene was performed using a previously described PCR-based method that identifies 18 major plasmid types in Enterobacteriaceae [5].
Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis
Genotyping of the ESBL-positive isolates was performed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) according to the PulseNet protocol (http://www.pulsenetinternational.org/protocols/). Agaroseembedded genomic DNA was digested with XbaI and separated by PFGE using a CHEF-Mapper system (Bio-Rad Laboratories, USA) with initial and final switch times of 2.16 to 54.17 sec at 6 V/cm for 18 h at 14℃. Genomic DNA of Salmonella enterica serotype Braenderup H9812 (ATCC BAA-664) restricted with XbaI was used as a size standard. The PFGE patterns were analyzed with BioNumerics software ver. 5.1 (Applied Maths, Belgium) using the Dice similarity coefficient with a 1.5% position tolerance.
Multilocus Sequence Typing
For seven ESBL-producing ETEC strains, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was performed using seven conserved housekeeping genes (aspC, clpX, fadD, icdA, lysP, mdh, and uidA) [11]. The internal fragments of all loci were sequenced, and the corresponding sequence types of the isolates were designated in accordance with the MLST database for pathogenic E. coli (http://www.shigatox.net/ecmlst). The novel fadD allele (fadD131) identified in this study was released under GenBank Accession No. KJ190942.
Results and Discussion
Description of Diarrheagenic E. coli Isolates
Among E. coli isolates collected during 2008-2011, a total of 111 isolates positive for the presence of a heat-labile toxin (LT), heat-stable toxin (ST), or both genes were considered as ETEC. One hundred and forty-one isolates positive for the pCVD432 plasmid were identified as EAEC. On observing the susceptibility testing of these isolates, ETEC and EAEC showed 7.2% (8/111) and 0.7% (1/141) antimicrobial resistance to ceftriaxone and cefotaxime, respectively (Table 1). Based on screening by CLSI ESBL phenotypic confirmatory tests, seven ETEC and one EAEC isolates were phenotypically confirmed to be ESBL producers. They showed 8-fold increase in the MICs for either ceftazidime or cefotaxime tested in combination with clavulanic acid compared with the MIC obtained when tested alone (data not shown). Among the seven ETEC isolates, 2 and 3 strains were isolated in 2008 and 2009, respectively, from Gyeonggi province. Two strains, ET2010003 and ET2010011 were isolated from travelers returning to Korea from China and India, respectively, and were classified as imported cases. One ESBL-producing EAEC strain (EA2011016), the first detected in Korea, was isolated from Gyeonggi province in 2011 (Table 2).
Table 1.aNumber of resistant isolates. bApproximate percentage of resistant isolates.
Table 2.aImported, the isolate was recovered from a traveler returning from China or India. bST, heat-stable toxin; LT, heat-labile toxin; STh, ST toxin from human origin. cAMP, ampicillin; FOT, cefotaxime; AXO, ceftriaxone; SXT, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim. dUT, untypeable.
Molecular Characterization of ESBL Genes
Multiplex PCR and sequencing analysis showed that all the ESBL types belonged to the CTX-M family: four of eight ESBL-positive isolates carried a blaCTX-M-12 gene, two harbored a blaCTX-M-14 gene, and two had a blaCTX-M-15 gene (Table 2). CTX-M-12 ESBL differs from CTX-M-3 by three amino acid substitutions and has a high level of hydrolytic activity against cefotaxime compared with ceftazidime [13]. Since CTX-M-12 was first reported in K. pneumoniae isolates from Kenya in 2001 [13], and subsequently in Colombia in 2002 [26], it has been detected in clinical isolates from E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis in Korea [2, 3, 23, 24]. All of the isolates in this present study concomitantly produced TEM-1 beta-lactamase. PCR-based screenings for SHV-, DHA-, CMY-2-, and OXA-type ESBL genes were negative in all strains.
Transferability and Replicon Types of Plasmids Encoding the blaCTX-M Genes
Despite repeated attempts using different methods, the blaCTX-M-carrying plasmids were only successfully transferred to the recipient E. coli strain J53 AziR by conjugation for four (three ETEC and one EAEC) of the eight isolates (Table 2). Plasmid replicon typing analysis found that all four ETEC isolates with blaCTX-M-12 (ET2008002, ET2008005, ET2009003, and ET2009004) contained the same replicons: F, K, and Y (Table 2). However, the F replicon was only identified in two transconjugant strains, ET2008005-tc and ET2009004-tc, indicating that the blaCTX-M-12 genes were carried on a transferrable IncF plasmid. The CTX-M-15-producing ETEC isolates ET2009001 and ET2010001 carried two replicons of F in combination with N or I1, respectively. The F replicon was also found in the ET2010003 isolate, whereas the plasmid replicon of ET2010003-tc was not typeable in this study. In one EAEC isolate (EA2011016), a blaCTX-M-14 gene was located in an IncK plasmid (Table 2).
The mobile insertion sequence ISEcp1 element was located 48 bp upstream of the blaCTX-M-12 in all four ETEC isolates and showed 100% nucleotide identity with plasmid pSME0403 (GenBank Accession No. DQ658220) that was previously reported in Korea [2].
The blaCTX-M-14 gene in EA2011016 was carried on the IncK plasmid that was successfully transferred by conjugation. In Spain, the spread of blaCTX-M-14 is associated with a specific IncK plasmid, including plasmid pCT, which was isolated from calves with diarrhea [7], and the complete nucleotide sequence of the plasmid was recently determined (GenBank Accession No. FN868832) [25]. In the IncK plasmid of EA2011016, an intergenic region of 42 bp was identified between the ISEcp1 element and blaCTX-M-14, which is identical to the corresponding region of the IncK plasmid pCT. However, an IS903 mobile element was not detected downstream of the blaCTX-M-14 gene by PCR, despite the use of a several different primer sets. Further studies are needed to determine the similarity between the IncK plasmid in EA2011016 and pCT and to elucidate the worldwide dissemination of ESBL-producing IncK plasmids [8].
MLST and PFGE Patterns of E. coli Isolates
The genetic relatedness of the ESBL-producing ETEC isolates was investigated by PFGE. Among the seven ESBL-producing ETEC isolates, we identified five different PFGE patterns (Fig. 1). Three CTX-M-12-producing isolates (ET2008002, ET2008005, and ET2009003) showed the same ETCX01.069 pattern; this pattern showed a genetic similarity of 92.7% with the ETCX01.070 PFGE pattern of one isolate (ET2009004) that also carried blaCTX-M-12. The remaining three isolates each displayed a different PFGE pattern (ETCX01.065, ETCX01.068, and ETCX01.071). The MLST study of the genotypic diversity of the ETEC isolates identified seven unique sequence types (STs). Three STs (ST979, ST980, and ST981) of the CTX-M-12-producing isolates were newly described and subsequently registered in the EcMLST database. These new STs represent new combinations of previously described alleles ST86 found in ET2009004 (10, 12, X, 12, 1, 12, and 12; where X is fadD). Although three isolates with the ETCX01.069 PFGE pattern had multiple STs, these STs, except for one, had identical allele numbers at each locus, indicating that these isolates may be genetically related strains (i.e., the same ST complex; ST86 complex). However, E. coli strains within the ST86 complex were not previously described as CTX-M ESBL-producing strains.
Fig. 1.XbaI PFGE dendrogram with the corresponding MLST sequence types of the ESBL-producing ETEC isolates. Based on the UPGMA algorithm, the dendrogram revealed five different PFGE patterns. Four CTX-M-12-producing isolates with >90% similarity were considered as genetically related.
In this study, we screened and characterized ESBL-producing diarrheagenic E. coli strains isolated in 2008-2011 in the Republic of Korea. Our study showed that the IncF plasmid carrying the blaCTX-M-12 gene is responsible for the resistance to cephalosporin antibiotics in ETEC isolates, suggesting that the IncF plasmid might have contributed to the dissemination of CTX-M-12 in Korea, especially in Gyeonggi province during 2008 and 2009. In addition, we reported, to our knowledge, the first occurrence of blaCTX-M-14 in a diarrheagenic EAEC isolate from humans in Korea.
CTX-M has been the predominant ESBL type among Enterobacteriaceae, and the blaCTX-M genes in conjunction with mobile element ISEcp1 can be readily disseminated to other bacteria. We found a low incidence of ESBL production (less than 3.2%) in the collected diarrheagenic E. coli isolates. However, the progressive increase in CTX-M-producing diarrheagenic E. coli could become a risk factor for the spread of antimicrobial resistance to other pathogenic bacteria, which may narrow the choice of effective antibiotics and lead to clinical treatment failure. Therefore, additional active surveillance and effective infection control measures are needed to minimize the spread of cefotaxime resistance among diarrheagenic E. coli.
References
- Bae IK, Lee BH, Hwang HY, Jeong SH, Hong SG, Chang CL, et al. 2006. A novel ceftazidime-hydrolysing extendedspectrum beta-lactamase, CTX-M-54, with a single amino acid substitution at position 167 in the omega loop. J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 58: 315-319. https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkl252
- Bae IK, Lee YN, Hwang HY, Jeong SH, Lee SJ, Kwak HS, et al. 2006. Emergence of CTX-M-12 extended-spectrum betalactamase- producing Escherichia coli in Korea. J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 58: 1257-1259. https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkl397
- Bae IK, Lee YN, Jeong SH, Lee K, Lee H, Kwak HS, Woo GJ. 2007. High prevalence of SHV-12 and the emergence of CTXM- 12 in clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae from Korea. Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents 29: 362-364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2006.10.009
- Canton R, Gonzalez-Alba JM, Galan JC. 2012. CTX-M enzymes: origin and diffusion. Front. Microbiol. 3: 110.
- Carattoli A, Bertini A, Villa L, Falbo V, Hopkins KL, Threlfall EJ. 2005. Identification of plasmids by PCR-based replicon typing. J. Microbiol. Methods 63: 219-228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mimet.2005.03.018
- CLSI. 2012. Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing; 22nd informational supplement (M100-S22). Wayne, PA.
- Cottell JL, Webber MA, Coldham NG, Taylor DL, Cerdeno- Tarraga AM, Hauser H, et al. 2011. Complete sequence and molecular epidemiology of IncK epidemic plasmid encoding blaCTX-M-14. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 17: 645-652. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1704.101009
- Dhanji H, Khan P, Cottell JL, Piddock LJ, Zhang J, Livermore DM, Woodford N. 2012. Dissemination of pCTlike IncK plasmids harboring CTX-M-14 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase among clinical Escherichia coli isolates in the United Kingdom. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 56: 3376- 3377. https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00313-12
- Fischer Walker CL, Sack D, Black RE. 2010. Etiology of diarrhea in older children, adolescents and adults: a systematic review. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis. 4: e768. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000768
- Huang DB, Mohamed JA, Nataro JP, DuPont HL, Jiang ZD, Okhuysen PC. 2007. Virulence characteristics and the molecular epidemiology of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli isolates from travellers to developing countries. J. Med. Microbiol. 56: 1386-1392. https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.47161-0
- Hyma KE, Lacher DW, Nelson AM, Bumbaugh AC, Janda JM, Strockbine NA, et al. 2005. Evolutionary genetics of a new pathogenic Escherichia species: Escherichia albertii and related Shigella boydii strains. J. Bacteriol. 187: 619-628. https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.187.2.619-628.2005
- Kaper JB, Nataro JP, Mobley HL. 2004. Pathogenic Escherichia coli. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 2: 123-140. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro818
- Kariuki S, Corkill JE, Revathi G, Musoke R, Hart CA. 2001. Molecular characterization of a novel plasmid-encoded cefotaximase (CTX-M-12) found in clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from Kenya. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 45: 2141-2143. https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.45.7.2141-2143.2001
-
Kim JY, Jeon SM, Rhie HG, Lee BK, Park MS, Lee H, et al. 2009. Rapid detection of extended spectrum
$\beta$ -lactamase (ESBL) for Enterobacteriaceae by use of a multiplex PCRbased method. Infect. Chemother. 41: 181-184. https://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2009.41.3.181 - Kim S, Kim J, Kang Y, Park Y, Lee B. 2004. Occurrence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in members of the genus Shigella in the Republic of Korea. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 5264-5269. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.42.11.5264-5269.2004
- Lee SG, Jeong SH, Lee H, Kim CK, Lee Y, Koh E, et al. 2009. Spread of CTX-M-type extended-spectrum beta-lactamases among bloodstream isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae from a Korean hospital. Diagn. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 63: 76-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2008.09.002
- Nataro JP, Steiner T, Guerrant RL. 1998. Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 4: 251-261. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid0402.980212
- Orskov I, Orskov F, Jann B, Jann K. 1977. Serology, chemistry, and genetics of O and K antigens of Escherichia coli. Bacteriol. Rev. 41: 667-710.
- Pai H , Choi E H, Lee HJ, Hong JY, J acoby GA. 2001. Identification of CTX-M-14 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase in clinical isolates of Shigella sonnei, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae in Korea. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39: 3747-3749. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.39.10.3747-3749.2001
- Qadri F, Svennerholm AM, Faruque AS, Sack RB. 2005. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in developing countries: epidemiology, microbiology, clinical features, treatment, and prevention. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 18: 465-483. https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.18.3.465-483.2005
- Schmidt H, Knop C, Franke S, Aleksic S, Heesemann J, Karch H. 1995. Development of PCR for screening of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli. J. Clin. Microbiol. 33: 701-705.
- Shin J, Choi MJ, Ko KS. 2012. Replicon sequence typing of IncF plasmids and the genetic environments of blaCTX-M- 15 indicate multiple acquisitions of blaCTX-M-15 in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from South Korea. J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 67: 1853-1857. https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dks143
- Song W, Kim J, Bae IK, Jeong SH, Seo YH, Shin JH, et al. 2011. Chromosome-encoded AmpC and CTX-M extendedspectrum beta-lactamases in clinical isolates of Proteus mirabilis from Korea. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 55: 1414- 1419. https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.01835-09
- Song W, Lee H, Lee K, Jeong SH, Bae IK, Kim JS, Kwak HS. 2009. CTX-M-14 and CTX-M-15 enzymes are the dominant type of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli from Korea. J. Med. Microbiol. 58: 261-266. https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.004507-0
- Valverde A, Canton R, Garcillan-Barcia MP, Novais A, Galan JC, Alvarado A, et al. 2009. Spread of bla(CTX-M-14) is driven mainly by IncK plasmids disseminated among Escherichia coli phylogroups A, B1, and D in Spain. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 53: 5204-5212. https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.01706-08
- Villegas MV, Correa A, Perez F, Zuluaga T, Radice M, Gutkind G, et al. 2004. CTX-M-12 beta-lactamase in a Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolate in Colombia. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 48: 629-631. https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.48.2.629-631.2004
Cited by
- Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization: Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry-Identified Models for Detection of ESBL-Producing Bacterial Strains vol.20, pp.None, 2014, https://doi.org/10.12659/msmbr.892670
- Characterization ofSalmonellaspp. Clinical Isolates in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, 2012 to 2013 vol.17, pp.2, 2014, https://doi.org/10.5145/acm.2014.17.2.50
- Molecular Characterization of Enterotoxin-Producing Escherichia coli Collected in 2011–2012, Russia vol.10, pp.4, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0123357
- Multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli in Asia: epidemiology and management vol.13, pp.5, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1586/14787210.2015.1028365
- Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae Isolated from Vegetables Imported from the Dominican Republic, India, Thailand, and Vietnam vol.81, pp.9, 2015, https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00258-15
- Molecular Characterization of β-Lactamase-ProducingEscherichia coliCollected from 2001 to 2011 from Pigs in Korea vol.13, pp.2, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1089/fpd.2015.2017
- High Diversity of CTX-M Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamases in Municipal Wastewater and Urban Wetlands vol.22, pp.4, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1089/mdr.2015.0197
- Comparative genetic characterization of Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli strains recovered from clinical and non-clinical settings vol.6, pp.None, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24321
- 충청지역에 위치한 일개의 대학병원에서 분리된 CTX-M-14형 ESBL 생성 대장균을 대상으로 PMQR 유전자 빈도조사 vol.48, pp.3, 2014, https://doi.org/10.15324/kjcls.2016.48.3.210
- Antibiotic resistance pattern and molecular characterization of extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing enteroaggregative Escherichia coli isolates in children from southwest Iran vol.11, pp.None, 2014, https://doi.org/10.2147/idr.s167271
- Emergence and molecular characterization of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates harboring bla CTX-M-15 extended-spectrum β-lactamases causing ventilator-associated p vol.12, pp.None, 2014, https://doi.org/10.2147/idr.s189494
- Prevalence and molecular epidemiology of ESBLs, plasmid-determined AmpC-type β-lactamases and carbapenemases among diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli isolates from children in Gwangju, Korea: 2007 vol.74, pp.8, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkz175
- Co-infection With Chromosomally-Located bla CTX-M-14 and Plasmid-Encoding bla CTX-M-15 in Pathogenic Escherichia coli in the Republic of Korea vol.11, pp.None, 2014, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.545591