Characterization of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns and Detection of Virulence Genes in Campylobacter Isolates in Italy

Sensors

Elisabetta Di Giannatale¹  Gabriella Di Serafino²  Katiuscia Zilli²  Alessandra Alessiani²  Lorena Sacchini²  Giuliano Garofolo²  Giuseppe Aprea² 

[1] LNR Campylobacter, IZSAM G.Caporale, via Campo Boario 64100 Teramo, Italy;

关键词: antimicrobial susceptibility;    Campylobacter;    microarray;    PFGE;    sequencing;    virulence;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s140203308

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Campylobacter has developed resistance to several antimicrobial agents over the years, including macrolides, quinolones and fluoroquinolones, becoming a significant public health hazard. A total of 145 strains derived from raw milk, chicken faeces, chicken carcasses, cattle faeces and human faeces collected from various Italian regions, were screened for antimicrobial susceptibility, molecular characterization (SmaI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) and detection of virulence genes (sequencing and DNA microarray analysis). The prevalence of C. jejuni and C. coli was 62.75% and 37.24% respectively. Antimicrobial susceptibility revealed a high level of resistance for ciprofloxacin (62.76%), tetracycline (55.86%) and nalidixic acid (55.17%). Genotyping of Campylobacter isolates using PFGE revealed a total of 86 unique SmaI patterns. Virulence gene profiles were determined using a new microbial diagnostic microarray composed of 70-mer oligonucleotide probes targeting genes implicated in Campylobacter pathogenicity. Correspondence between PFGE and microarray clusters was observed. Comparisons of PFGE and virulence profiles reflected the high genetic diversity of the strains examined, leading us to speculate different degrees of pathogenicity inside Campylobacter populations.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI; Basel; Switzerland.