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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #388075
Research Project: Alternatives to Antibiotics and Genomics of Antimicrobial Resistance to Control Foodborne Pathogens in Poultry

Location: Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit

Title: Genomic comparison of conjugative plasmids from Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli encoding beta-lactamases and capable of mobilizing kanamycin resistance Col-like plasmids

Author
item McMillan, Elizabeth
item Nguyen, Ly Huong
item Hiott, Lari
item SHARMA, POONAM - University Of Oklahoma
item Jackson, Charlene
item Frye, Jonathan
item Chen, Chinyi

Submitted to: Microorganisms
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/21/2021
Publication Date: 10/23/2021
Citation: Mcmillan, E.A., Nguyen, L.T., Hiott, L.M., Sharma, P., Jackson, C.R., Frye, J.G., Chen, C. 2021. Genomic comparison of conjugative plasmids from Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli encoding beta-lactamases and capable of mobilizing kanamycin resistance Col-like plasmids. Microorganisms. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9112205.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9112205

Interpretive Summary: Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli are important human pathogens that are often resistant to antibiotics. This is frequently due to their carrying plasmids that contain antibiotic resistance genes. The ability of large conjugative plasmids from Salmonella and E. coli to mobilize small KanR plasmids was investigated. Large plasmids of types I1 and X were able to mobilize these small plasmids. Large plasmids that could not mobilize these small plasmids had disruptions in their transfer genes. These results describe the complexities of small plasmid mobilization and the development of multi-drug resistance. The association of small plasmid transfer with large plasmids explains how they may travel together resulting in multi-drug resistant pathogens.

Technical Abstract: Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli are important human pathogens that frequently contain plasmids, both large and small, carrying antibiotic resistance genes. Large conjugative plasmids are known to mobilize small Col plasmids, but less is known about the specificity of mobilization. In the current study, six S. enterica and four E. coli strains containing large plasmids were tested for their ability to mobilize three different kanamycin resistance Col plasmids (KanR plasmids). Large conjugative plasmids from five isolates, four S. enterica and one E. coli, were able to mobilize KanR plasmids of various types. Plasmids capable of mobilizing the KanR plasmids were either IncI1 or IncX, while IncI1 and IncX plasmids with no evidence of conjugation had disrupted transfer regions. Conjugative plasmids of similar types mobilized similar KanR plasmids, but not all conjugative plasmid types were capable of mobilizing all of the KanR plasmids. These data describe some of the complexities and specificities of individual small plasmid mobilization.