Kruemmel Ana Rafaela, Halpin Jessica L, Foltz Victoria M, Dykes Janet K, Lúquez Carolina
National Botulism Laboratory, Enteric Diseases Laboratory Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2025 Aug 20;91(8):e0009025. doi: 10.1128/aem.00090-25. Epub 2025 Jul 22.
Infant botulism, the most common form of botulism in the United States, occurs when botulinum toxin-producing clostridia colonize the infant's gut and produce botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT). This condition is treated with botulinum antitoxin and supportive care; antibiotics are avoided due to the risk of worsening symptoms by promoting toxin release. Consequently, antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) are rarely investigated in strains. During 2020 through 2023, 226 . isolates associated with infant botulism were sequenced in our laboratory using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) technologies. analysis of the WGS data revealed that 15% of these isolates ( = 36) carried a gene variant, which is associated with resistance to streptogramin A antibiotics. In this study, we describe the molecular characterization of 36 isolates that harbor the gene. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the detection of the gene in the chromosome of recovered from infants in the United States.IMPORTANCEThe continuous expansion of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) technologies, combined with refined data analysis tools, has enabled an in-depth analysis of pathogens, allowing a thorough characterization and comprehension of the genomic diversity of . In the present study, we demonstrate how the implementation of WGS into laboratory surveillance workflow allowed the detection of an antimicrobial resistance gene, the gene, in the chromosome of strains recovered from infants. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the detection of the gene in non-enterococci isolates recovered from clinical samples in the United States.
婴儿肉毒中毒是美国最常见的肉毒中毒形式，当产生肉毒杆菌毒素的梭状芽孢杆菌在婴儿肠道定殖并产生肉毒杆菌神经毒素（BoNT）时就会发生。这种病症用肉毒杆菌抗毒素和支持性治疗；由于担心使用抗生素会促进毒素释放而使症状恶化，因此避免使用抗生素。因此，很少对菌株中的抗菌抗性基因（ARGs）进行研究。在2020年至2023年期间，我们实验室使用全基因组测序（WGS）技术对226株与婴儿肉毒中毒相关的分离株进行了测序。对WGS数据的分析表明，这些分离株中有15%（n = 36）携带一个与对链阳菌素A抗生素耐药相关的基因变体。在本研究中，我们描述了36株携带该基因的分离株的分子特征。据我们所知，这是在美国从婴儿中分离出的菌株染色体中检测到该基因的首次报告。
重要性
全基因组测序（WGS）技术的不断扩展，结合精细的数据分析工具，使得能够对病原体进行深入分析，从而全面表征和理解菌株的基因组多样性。在本研究中，我们展示了将WGS应用于实验室监测工作流程如何能够在美国从婴儿中分离出的菌株染色体中检测到一种抗菌抗性基因，即该基因。据我们所知，这是首次在美国从临床样本中分离出的非肠球菌分离株中报告检测到该基因的研究。
