Patterns of virulence factor expression and antimicrobial resistance in Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Achromobacter ruhlandii isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis

Abstract

Achromobacter spp. are opportunistic pathogens increasingly recovered from adult patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). We report the characterization of 122 Achromobacter spp. isolates recovered from 39 CF patients by multilocus sequence typing, virulence traits, and susceptibility to antimicrobials. Two species, A. xylosoxidans (77%) and A. ruhlandii (23%) were identified. All isolates showed a similar biofilm formation ability, and a positive swimming phenotype. By contrast, 4·3% and 44·4% of A. xylosoxidans and A. ruhlandii, respectively, exhibited a negative swarming phenotype, making the swimming and swarming abilities of A. xylosoxidans significantly higher than those of A. ruhlandii. A. xylosoxidans isolates from an outbreak clone also exhibited significantly higher motility. Both species were generally susceptible to ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, imipenem and trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole and there was no significant difference in susceptibility between isolates from chronic or sporadic infection. However, A. xylosoxidans isolates from chronic and sporadic cases were significantly more resistant to imipenem and ceftazidime than isolates of the outbreak clone.

Keywords: Achromobacter; clinical microbiology; cystic fibrosis.

Fig. 1.

(a) Swimming and (b) swarming motility of Achromobacter xylosoxidans and A. ruhlandii. (c) Swimming and (d) swarming motility of A. xylosoxidans isolates of the outbreak clone and patients with chronic or sporadic infection. Data are medians, and bars represent the interquartile range. * P < 0·05, *** P < 0·001.