Characterization of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance by the qnrS gene in Escherichia coli isolated from healthy chickens and pigs
The prevalence of <I>qnr</I> and <I>qepA</I> genes in 660 <I>Escherichia coli</I> isolates was investigated in healthy animals from 30 pig farms and 30 chicken farms in Taiwan from January 2005 to February 2006 by the polymerase chain reaction. The <I>qnrS</I> gene, but not <I>qnrA, qnrB, </I> and <I>qepA</I> were detected in 12/360 pig isolates (3.33%) and in 6/300 chicken isolates (2%). Southern blot hybridization analysis indicated that <I>qnrS</I> was located on plasmids ranging in size from 50–165 kb. Eleven of the 18 <I>qnrS</I> positive isolates which showed a high ciprofloxacin resistance phenotype (minimum inhibitory concentration ≥ 8 mg/l) also had amino acid sequence variations in chromosomal quinolone resistance-determining regions of <I>gyrA</I> and <I>parC</I>. Only two <I>qnrS</I>-positive isolates carried the <I>aac(6’)-Ib-cr</I>variant that mediates FQ acetylation. For the high percentage resistance of cephalosporins, the<I> bla</I><sub>CTX-M</sub> gene was also examined in <I>qnrS</I>-positive isolates. The <I>bla</I><sub>CTX-M</sub> gene was detected in fifteen isolates (15/18, 83.3%) of which 12 isolates were <I>bla</I><sub>CTX-M-1</sub> and three isolates were <I>bl</I><sub>CTX-M-15</sub>. This study demonstrated a close linkage between the <I>qnrS</I> gene and <I>bla</I><sub>CTX-M-1</sub>, suggesting CTX-M and Qnr-based mechanisms might be co-emerging in <I>E. coli</I> strains isolated from healthy chickens and pigs under selective pressure of quinolone and cephalosporine administration.