Institute of Microbiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 20;14(1):9054. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-59201-5.
The emergence of plasmid-mediated tigecycline resistance gene tet(X4) among clinically relevant bacteria has promoted significant concerns, as tigecycline is considered a last-resort drug against serious infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria. We herein focused on the isolation and molecular characterization of tet(X4)-positive Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) in wild bird populations with anthropogenic interaction in Faisalabad, Pakistan. A total of 150 birds including black kites (Milvus migrans) and house crows (Corvus splendens) were screened for the presence of tigecycline resistance K. pneumoniae and E. coli. We found two K. pneumoniae and one E. coli isolate carrying tet(X4) originating from black kites. A combination of short- and long-read sequencing strategies showed that tet(X4) was located on a broad host range IncFII plasmid family in K. pneumoniae isolates whereas on an IncFII-IncFIB hybrid plasmid in E. coli. We also found an integrative and conjugative element ICEKp2 in K. pneumoniae isolate KP8336. We demonstrate the first description of tet(X4) gene in the WHO critical-priority pathogen K. pneumoniae among wild birds. The convergence of tet(X4) and virulence associated ICEKp2 in a wild bird with known anthropogenic contact should be further investigated to evaluate the potential epidemiological implications. The potential risk of global transmission of tet(X4)-positive K. pneumoniae and E. coli warrant comprehensive evaluation and emphasizes the need for effective mitigation strategies to reduce anthropogenic-driven dissemination of AMR in the environment.
质粒介导的替加环素耐药基因 tet(X4) 在临床相关细菌中的出现引起了人们的高度关注，因为替加环素被认为是治疗多药耐药菌引起的严重感染的最后手段。我们专注于在巴基斯坦费萨拉巴德有人类活动干扰的野生鸟类中分离和分子特征分析携带 tet(X4) 的肺炎克雷伯菌（K. pneumoniae）和大肠杆菌（E. coli）。共筛选了 150 只鸟类，包括黑鸢（Milvus migrans）和家鸦（Corvus splendens），以检测是否存在对替加环素耐药的肺炎克雷伯菌和大肠杆菌。我们发现了两株携带 tet(X4) 的肺炎克雷伯菌和一株大肠杆菌，这些细菌均来源于黑鸢。短读长和长读长测序策略的组合表明，tet(X4) 位于肺炎克雷伯菌分离株中的广泛宿主范围 IncFII 质粒家族中，而在大肠杆菌中位于 IncFII-IncFIB 杂合质粒上。我们还在肺炎克雷伯菌分离株 KP8336 中发现了一个整合和共轭元件 ICEKp2。我们首次在野生鸟类中的世界卫生组织优先病原体肺炎克雷伯菌中描述了 tet(X4) 基因。在已知与人类有接触的野生鸟类中，tet(X4) 和与毒力相关的 ICEKp2 的融合应该进一步研究，以评估其潜在的流行病学意义。携带 tet(X4) 的肺炎克雷伯菌和大肠杆菌在全球传播的潜在风险需要进行全面评估，并强调需要采取有效的缓解策略来减少环境中 AMR 的人为驱动传播。
