Molecular Characterization of Rifampicin-Resistant Isolates from Retail Foods in China.

This study investigated the molecular characteristics of rifampin-resistant (RIF-R) isolates recovered from 4300 retail food samples covering most provincial capitals in China, from 2011 to 2016. Of the 1463 enrolled, 149 isolates (142 MSSA and 7 MRSA) were identified as rifampicin-resistant, including 20 high-level (MICs ≥ 8 μg/mL) and 129 low-level (MICs between 2 and 4 μg/mL) rifampicin-resistant strains. Most of the RIF-R isolates were resistant to more than three antibiotics. The mutations in the rifampicin resistance-determining region of the gene were studied in all RIF-R strains. All of the strains presented the mutational change 481 His/Asn and five isolates presented an additional mutation, including 477 Asp/Tyr, 527 Ile/Met, and 466 Leu/Ser, respectively. Thirteen STs and twenty-one types were represented, in which five MRSA showed non-type SCC and the remaining MRSA belonged to SCC type IV-where, ST1-t127 was the predominant type from all of the isolates, while ST398-t034 was the predominant type for the MRSA isolates. In this study, we found that the food-related RIF-R may have a unique genetic background selection. However, the scenario regarding the presence of RIF-R especially MRSA, in retail food in China is not favorable and warrants public attention.