Antimicrobial Resistance and Genomic Characterization of Six New Sequence Types in Multidrug-Resistant <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> Clinical Isolates from Pakistan

<i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> (<i>P. aeruginosa</i>) is a major bacterial pathogen associated with a variety of infections with high mortality rates. Most of the clinical <i>P. aeruginosa</i> isolates belong to a limited number of genetic subgroups characterized b...

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Autores principales: Sidra Irum, Kanwal Naz, Nimat Ullah, Zeeshan Mustafa, Amjad Ali, Muhammad Arslan, Kashaf Khalid, Saadia Andleeb
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/a6d37b4bd5e74cdc8bbc9232a569743a
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Sumario:<i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> (<i>P. aeruginosa</i>) is a major bacterial pathogen associated with a variety of infections with high mortality rates. Most of the clinical <i>P. aeruginosa</i> isolates belong to a limited number of genetic subgroups characterized by multiple housekeeping genes’ sequences (usually 5–7) through the Multi-Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) scheme. The emergence and dissemination of novel multidrug-resistant (MDR) sequence types (ST) in <i>P. aeruginosa</i> pose serious clinical concerns. We performed whole-genome sequencing on a cohort (<i>n</i> = 160) of MDR <i>P. aeruginosa</i> isolates collected from a tertiary care hospital lab in Pakistan and found six isolates belonging to six unique MLST allelic profiles. The genomes were submitted to the PubMLST database and new ST numbers (ST3493, ST3494, ST3472, ST3489, ST3491, and ST3492) were assigned to the respective allele combinations. MLST and core-genome-based phylogenetic analysis confirmed the divergence of these isolates and positioned them in separate branches. Analysis of the resistome of the new STs isolates revealed the presence of genes <i>bla</i>OXA-50, <i>bla</i>PAO, <i>bla</i>PDC, <i>bla</i>VIM-2, <i>aph</i>(3′)-IIb, <i>aac</i>(6′)-II, <i>aac</i>(3)-Id, <i>fos</i>A, <i>cat</i>B7, <i>dfr</i>B2, <i>crp</i>P, <i>mer</i>P and a number of missense and frame-shift mutations in chromosomal genes conferring resistance to various antipseudomonal antibiotics. The <i>exo</i>S, <i>exo</i>T, <i>pvd</i>E, <i>rhl</i>I, <i>rhl</i>R, <i>las</i>A, <i>las</i>B, <i>las</i>I, and <i>las</i>R genes were the most prevalent virulence-related genes among the new ST isolates. The different genotypic features revealed the adaptation of these new clones to a variety of infections by various mutations in genes affecting antimicrobial resistance, quorum sensing and biofilm formation. Close monitoring of these antibiotic-resistant pathogens and surveillance mechanisms needs to be adopted to reduce their spread to the healthcare facilities of Pakistan. We believe that these strains can be used as reference strains for future comparative analysis of isolates belonging to the same STs.