ESBL, plasmidic AmpC, and associated quinolone resistance determinants in coliforms isolated from hospital effluent: first report of qnrB2, qnrB9, qnrB19, and bla_CMY-4 in Algeria

Abstract

The characterization of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases , plasmidic AmpC (pAmpC), and associated plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) determinants in cefotaxime-resistant coliforms isolated from hospital effluent in Algiers showed bla_CTX-M genes in 89%, bla_TEM-1 in 79·8%, and pAmpC genes (bla_CIT) in 2·7% isolates. Association of ISEcp1B with bla_CTX-M was found in all CTX-M+ isolates, and 97·2% harboured class 1 integrons. Sequencing showed bla_CTX-M-15, bla_CTX-M-3, and bla_CMY-4 genes. bla_CTX-M-3 and bla_CTX-M-15 were located in Inc L/M conjugative plasmids. The PMQR determinants identified were qnrB1, qnrB2, qnrB9, qnrB19, qnrS2, and aac(6')-Ib-cr. qnrB2, qnrB9, qnrB19, and bla_CMY-4 are described for the first time in Algeria and qnrB19 for the first time in non-clinical environments. This study highlights the major potential role of hospital effluents as providers of resistance genes to natural environments.

Keywords:

• ESBL
• Hospital effluent
• Plasmidic AmpC
• PMQR determinants

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by research grants from National Fund for the Research and National Agency for the Development of Research in Health (Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Algeria) and by project SAF2012-35474 from the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain and Feder. V. Estepa has a pre-doctoral fellowship from the University of La Rioja of Spain.

Part of this work was presented in European Scientific Conference on Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Lisbon, 2010.