Characterization of class 1 integrons harboring blaVEB-1 in Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolated from ready-to-eat foods in China

Tao Lei; Jumei Zhang; Fufeng Jiang; Min He; Haiyan Zeng; Moutong Chen; Rui Pang; Haoming Wu; Shi Wu; Juan Wang; Yu Ding; Qingping Wu

doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2019.108473

Characterization of class 1 integrons harboring bla_VEB-1 in Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolated from ready-to-eat foods in China

Int J Food Microbiol. 2020 Apr 2:318:108473. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2019.108473. Epub 2019 Dec 9.

Authors

Tao Lei¹, Jumei Zhang¹, Fufeng Jiang², Min He³, Haiyan Zeng¹, Moutong Chen¹, Rui Pang¹, Haoming Wu¹, Shi Wu¹, Juan Wang⁴, Yu Ding⁵, Qingping Wu⁶

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510070, China; State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Culture Collection and Application, Guangdong Open Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510070, China.
² Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510070, China; State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Culture Collection and Application, Guangdong Open Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510070, China; School of Food and Biological Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710021, China.
³ Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510070, China; School of Food and Biological Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710021, China; School of Bioscience and Bioengineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510006, China.
⁴ College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510642, China.
⁵ Department of Food Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510632, China.
⁶ Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510070, China; State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Culture Collection and Application, Guangdong Open Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510070, China. Electronic address: wuqp203@163.com.

PMID: 31863965
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2019.108473

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of integrons and integron-associated antibiotic resistance in V. parahaemolyticus strains collected from RTE foods in China, and to carry out a comprehensive analysis on the molecular characterization of V. parahaemolyticus strains carrying bla_VEB-1-positive class 1 integron. Of the 51 V. parahaemolyticus strains isolated from RTE food samples, none of the isolates was found to carry integrase genes intI2 and IntI3. However, all 51 strains were positive to integrase gene intI1, and only 2 of 51 (3.92%) intI1-positive isolates yielded polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products of gene cassette amplification. Sequence data and BLAST analysis indicated the gene cassette arrays of class 1 integron in VP007 is dfrA14-bla_VEB-1-aadB, while the gene cassette arrays of class 1 integron in V187 is bla_VEB-1-aadB-arr2-cmlA-bla_OXA-10-aadA1. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that the two V. parahaemolyticus isolates harboring class 1 integrons exhibited multi-drug resistance to various antibiotics. S1-PFGE and Southern blot analysis confirmed the class 1 integron harboring bla_VEB-1 gene in V187 was located on the plasmid of ~175 kb and transferrable to the recipient strain by conjugation. This is the first detection of class 1 integrons harboring the ESBL gene bla_VEB-1 in V. parahaemolyticus. To the best of our knowledge, this is also the first report of VEB-producing V. parahaemolyticus from RTE foods. Our findings revealed that class 1 integron on conjugative plasmid contributes significantly to the dissemination of VEB-producing V. parahaemolyticus, which warrants further investigation because of the public health threat it poses.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance; Class 1 integron; RTE food; Vibrio parahaemolyticus; bla(VEB-1).

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
China
Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / drug effects
Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / genetics
Food Microbiology*
Humans
Integrons / genetics*
Plasmids / genetics
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Vibrio parahaemolyticus / drug effects
Vibrio parahaemolyticus / genetics*
Vibrio parahaemolyticus / isolation & purification
beta-Lactamases / genetics*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
beta-Lactamases