Complex integrons containing qnrB4-ampC (bla(DHA-1)) in plasmids of multidrug-resistant Citrobacter freundii from wastewater

Can J Microbiol. 2013 Feb;59(2):110-6. doi: 10.1139/cjm-2012-0576. Epub 2012 Nov 29.

Abstract

Microbial populations in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are increasingly being recognized as environmental reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes. PCR amplicons for plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance determinants qnrA, qnrB, and qnrS were recorded in samples from a WWTP in Vancouver, British Columbia. Six strains of ciprofloxacin-resistant Citrobacter freundii were isolated and found to carry mutations in gyrA and parC, as well as multiple plasmid-borne resistance genes, collectively including qnrB; aac(6')-Ib-cr; β-lactamase-encoding genes from molecular classes A (blaTEM-1), C (ampC), D (blaOXA-1, blaOXA-10); and genes for resistance to 5 other types of antibiotics. In 3 strains, large (>60 kb) plasmids carried qnrB4 and ampC as part of a complex integron in a 14 kb arrangement that has been reported worldwide but, until recently, only among pathogenic strains of Klebsiella. Analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the qnrB4-ampC regions infers 2 introductions into the WWTP environment. These results suggest recent passage of plasmid-borne fluoroquinolone and β-lactam resistance genes from pathogens to bacteria that may be indigenous inhabitants of WWTPs, thus contributing to an environmental pool of antibiotic resistance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • British Columbia
  • Citrobacter freundii / drug effects
  • Citrobacter freundii / enzymology
  • Citrobacter freundii / genetics*
  • Citrobacter freundii / isolation & purification
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial / genetics*
  • Drug Resistance, Multiple / genetics
  • Integrons / genetics*
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Plasmids / genetics*
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • Wastewater / microbiology*
  • Water Microbiology
  • beta-Lactam Resistance / drug effects
  • beta-Lactam Resistance / genetics
  • beta-Lactamases / genetics*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Waste Water
  • beta-Lactamases