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Prevalence and profiles of plasmids in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
P Plesiat1, B Alkhalaf, Y Michel-Briand
1Laboratory of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medicine, Besançon, France.
Abstract:
The value of plasmid profile determination as an epidemiological tool in Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections was investigated by determining the prevalence of plasmids in 450 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains and comparing the technique with other epidemiological tools. Since only 13.9% of these strains harbored plasmids and the majority of these plasmids were antibiotic resistant, the technique appeared to be less appropriate as an epidemiological tool in this organism than other techniques. Comparison of results obtained from plasmid profile determinations with those from antibiotyping, serotyping and pyocin typing in 50 non-epidemic strains showed the technique gave highly reproducible results and was sensitive; its ability to discriminate could be improved by additionally performing conjugation assays and hydrolysis of plasmidic DNA with restriction enzymes. It is concluded that plasmid profiles provide important epidemiological information on Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections when performed in conjunction with either serotyping or, more importantly, pyocin typing.
Insights
Plasmid profiling is less effective for tracking Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections alone. Combining it with serotyping or pyocin typing enhances its value for epidemiological surveillance of these infections.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen causing significant healthcare-associated infections.
- Epidemiological tools are crucial for tracking and controlling the spread of bacterial infections.
- Plasmid profiling is a molecular technique used to analyze bacterial genetic elements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the utility of plasmid profile determination as an epidemiological tool for Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections.
- To compare plasmid profiling with other established epidemiological methods.
Main Methods:
- Determined plasmid prevalence in 450 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains.
- Compared plasmid profiling results with antibiotyping, serotyping, and pyocin typing in 50 strains.
- Investigated methods to improve plasmid profile discrimination, including conjugation assays and restriction enzyme analysis.
Main Results:
- Only 13.9% of the analyzed Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains harbored plasmids.
- Most detected plasmids were associated with antibiotic resistance.
- Plasmid profiling demonstrated high reproducibility and sensitivity but limited discriminatory power alone.
- Conjugation assays and restriction enzyme analysis could enhance discriminatory ability.
Conclusions:
- Plasmid profiling alone is not optimal for epidemiological surveillance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
- Integrating plasmid profiling with serotyping or pyocin typing provides valuable epidemiological insights.
- Combined approaches are recommended for effective tracking of Pseudomonas aeruginosa outbreaks.