Molecular Characterization of Antibiotic Resistance in Poultry Gut
Origin Enterococci and Horizontal Gene Transfer of Antibiotic
Resistance to Staphylococcus aureus
Fatima Malik1,
Muhammad Nawaz1,
Aftab Ahmad Anjum1, Sehrish Firyal2, Muhammad Akbar Shahid3, Suleman Irfan1*,Fahad Ahmed4
and
Amna Afzal Bhatti1
1Institute
of Microbiology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences,
Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jelani Road, Lahore, Pakistan 2Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University
of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jelani Road,
Lahore, Pakistan;
3Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary
Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bosan Road, Multan; 4Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of
Sassari, Sardinia, Italy *Corresponding author:
sulemanirfan10@gmail.com
Abstract
Enterococci,
the normal inhabitant of gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals, have
emerged as significant antibiotic resistant nosocomial pathogens. The current
study was designed to determine the antibiotic resistance profile and genes
harbored by isolated strains of
Enterococci
along with study of antibiotic
resistance transfer potential
from resistant Enterococci to susceptible pathogenic
Staphylococcus aureus in vitro.
The PCR based prevalence of Enterococcus
faecalis and Enterococcus faecium
from 118 broiler cloacal swabs was 60.46 and 30.23%, respectively, indicating
that E. faecalis is the predominant
species in broilers followed by E.
faecium. Enterococci (n=86)
were examined for the phenotypic resistance against eleven antibiotics which
showed higher level of resistance to lincomycin (96.51%), erythromycin (90.69%),
tetracycline (86.04%) and streptomycin (75.58%), intermediate level of
resistance to ciprofloxacin (54.65%) and doxycycline (48.83%), and low
resistance level to penicillin (26.74%), chloramphenicol (26.74%), amoxicillin
(17.44%), augmentin (11.62%) and vancomycin (10.46%). Over 80% Enterococcal
isolates were found multidrug resistant (MDR). On the basis of PCR analysis,
erm (B) and
tet (M) genes were identified in all
phenotypically erythromycin and tetracycline resistant strains while
van (B) was identified in only 4/9
(44.4%) of vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) with no detection of
van (A) gene in any VRE. One strain
E. faecalis (FME-41) was able to
transfer the erythromycin resistance to pathogenic
Staphylococcus aureus (M-11) in broth
mating assay. MDR Enterococci pose therapeutic threat to human community
and control on the spread of such MDR Enterococci from poultry to human food
chain is crucial.
To Cite This Article:
Malik F,
Nawaz M, Anjum AA, Firyal S, Shahid MA, Irfan S, Ahmed F and
Bhatti AA
2022.
Molecular characterization of antibiotic resistance in poultry gut origin
Enterococci and horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance to
Staphylococcus aureus.
Pak Vet J, 42(3): 383-389.
http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2022.035