Molecular characterization of blaNDM-5 carried on an IncFII plasmid in an Escherichia coli isolate from a nontraveler patient in Spain

Abstract

A carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli isolate (sequence type 448 [ST448]) was recovered from a urine culture of a female patient with no recent record of traveling. PCR screening identified the presence of bla(NDM-5), bla(TEM-1), bla(OXA-1), bla(CMY-42), and rmtB. bla(NDM-5) was carried in a conjugative IncFII-type plasmid (90 kb) together with bla(TEM-1) and rmtB. The genetic environment of bla(NDM-5) showed a structure similar to those of pMC-NDM and pGUE-NDM, identified in Poland and France in E. coli of African and Indian origin, respectively.

FIG 1

Schematic drawing showing the genetic elements surrounding the bla_NDM genes in pHC105-NDM (KM598665), pMC-NDM (HG003695), and pGUE-NDM (JQ364967). The lengths of the arrows are not proportional to the lengths of the genes or open reading frames (ORFs). The red arrow indicates the remnant ISAba125 fragment providing the −35 promoter region for transcription of bla_NDM. bla_TEM, TEM β-lactamase gene; rmtB, 16S rRNA methylase gene; IS, insertion sequence; bla_NDM, New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase gene; ble, bleomycin resistance gene; trpF, phosphoribosylanthranilate isomerase gene; tat, twin-arginine translocation pathway signal protein gene; sul1, sulfonamide resistance gene; qac, quaternary ammonium compound resistance gene; aadA2, aminoglycoside adenyltransferase gene; orf1, open reading frame; dhfrA12, dihydrofolate reductase gene; int1, integrase gene; tnpM, transposition modulator gene; aacC2, aminoglycoside acetyltransferase gene; IRL, inverted repeat left; IRR, inverted repeat right; Tn, transposon; Δ, truncated gene.