The presence of antibiotic resistance and molecular characterization of aminoglycoside and PmrA genes among foodand clinical-acquired Acinetobacter isolates

Abstract

The assessment of antibiotic resistance and related genes of foodborne Acinetobacter spp. and the analysis of whether they are genetically related to clinical infection -agent strains are crucial in terms of sustainability of food safety. The study at hand investigated antibiotic resistance, aminoglycosidemodifying enzyme (AME), and colistin resistance (PmrA) genes, clonal relationships while evaluating a possible correlation between antibiotic resistance and related genes between 27 foodborne and 50 clinical Acinetobacterspp. in Turkey. Antimicrobial susceptibilities, AME, PmrA genes, and clonal relatedness of the strains were performed by disc diffusion, PCR, and Pulsed Field gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) methods, respectively. The aph-AI, aph-6, anth(3'')-I, aadA1, aadB, and PmrA genes were found as 48%(n=24), 22%(n=11), 14%(n=7), 2%(n=1), 4%(n=2), and 92%(n=46) respectively, in clinical strains. This rate was found as 51.9%(n=14),59.3%(n=16), 70.4%(n=19), 7.4%(n=2), 0%(n=0), and 100%(n=27), respectively in foodborne isolates. A positive correlation existed between the number of aph-AI gene positivity and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and gentamycin resistance; anth (3'')-I gene positivity, and colistin resistance; PmrA gene positivity and piperacillintazobactam, ceftazidime, meropenem, amikacin, and imipenem resistance in clinical strains (P<0.05). A positive correlation between trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole resistance and aadAI gene positivity was found in foodborne strains (P<0.05). Clonal relations were absent between foodborne and clinical A. baumanni species. Finally, AME genes rise parallel to multidrug-resistance in the clinical isolates, and foods may be potential reservoirs for disseminating multi-AME and PmrA genes while being susceptible to several antibiotics.