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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Produce Safety and Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #342836
Research Project: Molecular Identification and Characterization of Bacterial and Viral Pathogens Associated with Foods

Location: Produce Safety and Microbiology Research

Title: Lack of evidence for erm(B) infiltration into Erythromycin-resistant Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter jejuni from commercial turkey production in eastern North Carolina: a major turkey-growing region in the United State

Author
item BOLINGER, HANNAH - North Carolina State University
item ZHANG, QIJING - Iowa State University
item Miller, William - Bill
item KATHARIOU, SOPHIA - North Carolina State University

Submitted to: Foodborne Pathogens and Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/13/2018
Publication Date: 8/10/2018
Citation: Bolinger, H.K., Zhang, Q., Miller, W.G., Kathariou, S. 2018. Lack of evidence for erm(B) infiltration into Erythromycin-resistant Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter jejuni from commercial turkey production in eastern North Carolina: a major turkey-growing region in the United States. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease. 15(11):698-700. https://doi.org/10.1089/fpd.2018.2477.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/fpd.2018.2477

Interpretive Summary: Resistance to the macrolide antibiotic erythromycin in the foodborne pathogen Campylobacter usually involves discrete chromosomal mutations. However, resistance can also result from the transfer of mobile genes between bacterial strains and different bacterial species. Such resistance genes are much more rapidly disseminated and could lead to substantial increases in the frequency of antibiotic resistance in foodborne pathogens and in the food supply, especially since these mobile genes are often paired with genes that confer resistance to other classes of antibiotics, potentially resulting in multidrug resistant strains. One such mobile macrolide resistance gene has been identified in Campylobacter in China, Spain and Turkey, but has yet to be identified in the United States. This study analyzed 178 erythromycin resistant Campylobacter strains. No strain contained a mobile resistance gene and it is likely that resistance in the strain set was conferred by chromosomal mutations instead. Although no mobile elements were identified, future diligence in monitoring the food supply for the presence of such mobile resistance genes is strongly recommended.

Technical Abstract: In Campylobacter spp., resistance to erythromycin and other macrolides has typically implicated ribosomal mutations, especially substitutions in the 23S rRNA gene. In 2014, the macrolide resistance gene erm(B) was reported for the first time in Campylobacter, and shown to be harbored in a multidrug resistance island in C. coli ZC113. C. coli and C. jejuni strains harboring erm(B) have been mostly reported from China; however, erm(B)-positive C. coli were detected recently in fecal samples from turkeys in Spain. To determine whether erm(B) may be harbored by erythromycin-resistant Campylobacter spp. from commercial turkey production in the southeastern US, we investigated a panel of 178 isolates (174 C. coli, 4 C. jejuni) using PCR with erm(B)-specific primers. All isolates were PCR-negative for erm(B) and sequence analysis of a panel of 58 isolates revealed that all harbored A2075G substitutions in the 23S RNA gene. Data fail to provide evidence for infiltration of erm(B) into erythromycin-resistant Campylobacter from commercial turkey production, and suggest the need for continuing surveillance.