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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, October 2003, p. 3214-3221, Vol. 47, No. 10
0066-4804/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AAC.47.10.3214-3221.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli O149:K91 Isolates Obtained over a 23-Year Period from Pigs

Christine Maynard,1 John M. Fairbrother,1 Sadjia Bekal,2 François Sanschagrin,3 Roger C. Levesque,3 Roland Brousseau,2 Luke Masson,2 Serge Larivière,1 and Josée Harel1*

Département de Pathologie et Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec J2S 7C6,1 Biotechnology Research Institute, Montréal, Québec H4P 2R2,2 Pavillon C.-E. Marchand, Université Laval, Québec, Québec G1K 7P4, Canada3

Received 21 March 2003/ Returned for modification 6 May 2003/ Accepted 10 July 2003

A total of 112 Escherichia coli O149:K91 strains isolated from pigs with diarrhea in Quebec, Canada, between 1978 and 2000 were characterized for their genotypic antimicrobial resistance profiles. Tests for resistance to 10 antimicrobial agents were conducted. Resistance to tetracycline and sulfonamides was found to be the most frequent, but resistance to cefotaxime and ceftiofur was absent. An increase in the number of isolates resistant to at least three antimicrobials was observed over time. The distribution of 28 resistance genes covering six antimicrobial families (beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, phenicols, tetracycline, trimethoprim, and sulfonamides) was assessed by colony hybridization. Significant differences in the distributions of tetracycline [tet(A), tet(B), tet(C)], trimethoprim (dhfrI, dhfrV, dhfrXIII), and sulfonamide (sulI, sulII) resistance genes were observed during the study period (1978 to 2000). Sixty percent of the isolates possessed a class 1 integron, illustrating the importance of integrons in the epidemiology of antibiotic resistance in E. coli strains from pigs. Amplification of the integron's variable region resulted in four distinct fragments of 1, 1.3, 1.6, and 1.8 kb, with the 1.6- and 1.8-kb fragments appearing only during the last half of the study period. Examination of linkages among the different resistance genes showed a variety of positive and negative associations. Association analysis of isolates divided into two groups, those isolated between 1978 and 1989 and those isolated between 1990 and 2000, revealed the appearance of new positive resistance gene associations. Our genotypic resistance analyses of ETEC isolates from pigs indicate that many of the antibiotic resistance genes behind phenotypic resistance are not static but, rather, are in a state of flux driven by various selection forces such as the use of specific antimicrobials.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Département de Pathologie et Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, 3200, rue Sicotte, C. P. 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec J2S 7C6, Canada. Phone: (450) 773-8521, ext. 8233. Fax: (450) 778-8108. E-mail: josee.harel{at}UMontreal.CA.


Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, October 2003, p. 3214-3221, Vol. 47, No. 10
0066-4804/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AAC.47.10.3214-3221.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




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