Characterizing carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli isolates from Spain: high genetic heterogeneity and wide...

Carbapenemase-Producing Escherichia coli (CP-Eco) isolates, though less prevalent than other CP-Enterobacterales, have the capacity to rapidly disseminate antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and cause serious difficult-to-treat infections. The aim of this study is phenotypically and genotypically characterizing CP-Eco isolates collected from Spain to better understand their resistance mechanisms and population structure.

Ninety representative isolates received from 2015 to 2020 from 25 provinces and 59 hospitals Spanish hospitals were included. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined according to EUCAST guidelines and whole-genome sequencing was performed. Antibiotic resistance and virulence-associated genes, phylogeny and population structure, and carbapenemase genes-carrying plasmids were analyzed.

The 90 CP-Eco isolates were highly polyclonal, where the most prevalent was ST131, detected in 14 (15.6%) of the isolates. The carbapenemase genes detected were bla _OXA-48 (45.6%), bla _VIM-1 (23.3%), bla _NDM-1 (7.8%), bla _KPC-3 (6.7%), and bla _NDM-5 (6.7%). Forty (44.4%) were resistant to 6 or more antibiotic groups and the most active antibiotics were colistin (98.9%), plazomicin (92.2%) and cefiderocol (92.2%). Four of the seven cefiderocol-resistant isolates belonged to ST167 and six harbored bla _NDM. Five of the plazomicin-resistant isolates harbored rmt. IncL plasmids were the most frequent (45.7%) and eight of these harbored bla _VIM-1. bla _OXA-48 was found in IncF plasmids in eight isolates. Metallo-β-lactamases were more frequent in isolates with resistance to six or more antibiotic groups, with their genes often present on the same plasmid/integron. ST131 isolates were associated with sat and pap virulence genes. This study highlights the genetic versatility of CP-Eco and its potential to disseminate ARGs and cause community and nosocomial infections.