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The emergence of carbapenemase producing Enterobacteriaceae has raised major public health concern. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular epidemiology and the mechanism of carbapenem resistance acquisition of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from 20 neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the V. Monaldi Hospital in Naples, Italy, from April 2015 to March 2016. Genotype analysis by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) identified PFGE type A and subtypes A1 and A2 in 17, 2, and 1 isolates, respectively, and assigned all isolates to sequence type (ST) 104. K. pneumoniae isolates were resistant to all classes of ß-lactams including carbapenems, fosfomycin, gentamicin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, but susceptible to quinolones, amikacin, and colistin. Conjugation experiments demonstrated that resistance to third-generation cephems and imipenem could be transferred along with an IncA/C plasmid containing the extended spectrum ß-lactamase blaSHV -12 and carbapenem-hydrolyzing metallo-ß-lactamase blaV IM-1 genes. The plasmid that we called pIncAC_KP4898 was 156,252 bp in size and included a typical IncA/C backbone, which was assigned to ST12 and core genome (cg) ST12.1 using the IncA/C plasmid MLST (PMLST) scheme. pIncAC_KP4898 showed a mosaic structure with blaV IM-1 into a class I integron, blaSHV -12 flanked by IS6 elements, a mercury resistance and a macrolide 2'-phosphotransferase clusters, ant(3″), aph(3″), aacA4, qnrA1, sul1, and dfrA14 conferring resistance to aminoglycosides, quinolones, sulfonamides, and trimethoprim, respectively, several genes predicted to encode transfer functions and proteins involved in DNA transposition. The acquisition of pIncAC_KP4898 carrying blaV IM-1 and blaSHV -12 contributed to the spread of ST104 K. pneumoniae in the NICU of V. Monaldi Hospital in Naples.

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In a previous nationwide study in Greece, OXA-58 was the sole carbapenemase present among carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) isolated between 2000 and 2009. In this study, the antibiotic resistances, carbapenemase gene content and clonal relatedness of 194 single-patient CRAB clinical isolates collected randomly during 2015 from 11 tertiary hospitals located throughout Greece were investigated. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using commercial and dilution methods. PCR assays for carbapenemase genes were performed. Clonality was tested by a scheme based on two multiplex PCRs and single-locus blaOXA-51-like sequence-based typing. Furthermore, Pasteur's multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were applied to 31 selected representative isolates. The most active antibiotics were trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (SXT) (34.6% of isolates susceptible), minocycline (71.6%), colistin (72.7%) and tigecycline (MIC50/90 values, 1/2 mg/L). The blaOXA-23-like gene was identified in 188 isolates (96.9%), blaOXA-23-like together with blaOXA-58-like in 3 isolates (1.5%), blaOXA-58-like in 2 isolates (1.0%) and blaOXA-40-like in 1 isolate (0.5%). ISAba1 was found upstream of the blaOXA-23-like gene in all isolates. International clone (IC) 2 comprised 157 isolates (80.9%), IC1 comprised 36 isolates (18.6%) and ST78 comprised 1 isolate (0.5%). All IC2 and IC1 isolates tested by MLST were ST2 and ST1, respectively. Seven PFGE types were detected. IC2 isolates were resistant to more antibiotics than IC1, except for SXT. This nationwide study showed that CRAB isolates in Greek hospitals currently produce almost uniformly the OXA-23 carbapenemase and belong mainly to IC2 and, to a lesser extent, IC1. Of particular concern, colistin susceptibility is recently severely reduced.

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BACKGROUND: The spread of carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is an emerging clinical problem, of great relevance in Europe and worldwide. The aim of this study was the molecular epidemiology of CRE isolates in Valle d'Aosta region, Italy, and the mechanism of carbapenem resistance. RESULTS: Sixty consecutive CRE samples were isolated from 52 hospital inpatients and/or outpatients from November 2013 to August 2014. Genotyping of microbial isolates was done by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), carbapenemases were identified by PCR and sequencing. Carbapenem resistance gene transfer was performed by filter mating, plasmids from parental and transconjugant strains were assigned to incompatibility groups by PCR-based replicon typing. Molecular characterization of CRE isolates assigned 25 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to PFGE types A1-A5 and sequencing type (ST) 101, 17 K. pneumoniae isolates to PFGE type A and ST1789 (a single locus variant of ST101), 7 K. pneumoniae isolates to PFGE types B or C and ST512, 2 K. pneumoniae isolates to PFGE type D and ST405, and 5 Escherichia coli isolates to PFGE type a and ST131. All K. pneumoniae ST101 and ST1789 isolates were extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producers and carried bla CTX-M-1 group gene; 4 K. pneumoniae ST101 isolates were resistant to colistin. Molecular analysis of beta-lactamase genes identified bla KPC-2 and bla CTX-M-group 1 into conjugative plasmid/s assigned to IncFII incompatibility group in ST101 and ST1789 K. pneumoniae isolates, bla KPC-3 into conjugative plasmid/s assigned to IncF incompatibility group in ST512 and ST405 K. pneumoniae isolates, bla VIM-1 into conjugative plasmid/s assigned to IncN incompatibility group in ST131 E. coli isolates. CONCLUSIONS: The spread of CRE in Valle d'Aosta region was caused by the selection of KPC-2 producing K. pneumoniae ST101 and ST1789 epidemic clones belonging to clonal complex 101, KPC-3 producing K. pneumoniae epidemic clones assigned to ST512 and ST405, and VIM-1 producing E.coli ST131 epidemic clone. Carbapenem resistance, along with bla KPC-2, bla KPC-3 and bla VIM-1 carbapenemase genes, was transferred by conjugative plasmids assigned to IncFII, IncF, and IncN incompatibility groups, respectively, in filter mating experiments. The emergence of colistin resistance was observed in KPC-2 producing K. pneumoniae ST101 isolates.

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BACKGROUND: A giant protein called BAP (biofilm-associated protein) plays a role in biofilm formation and adhesion to host cells in A. baumannii. Most of the protein is made by arrays of 80-110 aa modules featuring immunoglobulin-like (Ig-like) motifs. RESULTS: The survey of 541 A. baumannii sequenced strains belonging to 108 STs (sequence types) revealed that BAP is highly polymorphic, distinguishable in three main types for changes both in the repetitive and the COOH region. Analyzing the different STs, we found that 29 % feature type-1, 40 % type-2 BAP, 11 % type-3 BAP, 20 % lack BAP. The type-3 variant is restricted to A. baumannii, type-1 and type-2 BAP have been identified also in other species of the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii (ACB) complex. A. calcoaceticus and A. pittii also encode BAP-like proteins in which Ig-like repeats are replaced by long tracts of alternating serine and aspartic acid residues. We have identified in species of the ACB complex two additional proteins, BLP1 and BLP2 (BAP-like proteins 1 and 2) which feature Ig-like repeats, share with BAP a sequence motif at the NH2 terminus, and are similarly expressed in stationary growth phase. The knock-out of either BLP1 or BLP2 genes of the A. baumannii ST1 AYE strain severely affected biofilm formation, as measured by comparing biofilm biomass and thickness, and adherence to epithelial cells. BLP1 is missing in the majority of type-3 BAP strains. BLP2 is largely conserved, but is frequently missing in BAP-negative cells. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple proteins sharing Ig-like repeats seem to be involved in biofilm formation. The uneven distribution of the different BAP types, BLP1, and BLP2 is highly indicative that alternative protein complexes involved in biofilm formation are assembled in different A. baumannii strains.

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Acinetobacter baumannii is a globally distributed nosocomial pathogen that has gained interest due to its resistance to most currently used antimicrobials. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) and phylogenetics has begun to reveal the global genetic diversity of this pathogen. The evolution of A. baumannii has largely been defined by recombination, punctuated by the emergence and proliferation of defined clonal lineages. In this study we sequenced seven genomes from the sequence type (ST)25 lineage and compared them to 12 ST25 genomes deposited in public databases. A recombination analysis identified multiple genomic regions that are homoplasious in the ST25 phylogeny, indicating active or historical recombination. Genes associated with antimicrobial resistance were differentially distributed between ST25 genomes, which matched our laboratory-based antimicrobial susceptibility typing. Differences were also observed in biofilm formation between ST25 isolates, which were demonstrated to produce significantly more extensive biofilm than an isolate from the ST1 clonal lineage. These results demonstrate that within A. baumannii, even a fairly recently derived monophyletic lineage can still exhibit significant genotypic and phenotypic diversity. These results have implications for associating outbreaks with sequence typing as well as understanding mechanisms behind the global propagation of successful A. baumannii lineages.

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The spread of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) gram-negative bacteria has boosted colistin use, with a resultant selection of colistin-resistant, often pandrug-resistant strains. Whether acquisition of further resistance mechanisms translates into a reduced virulence is the subject of active research. In this report, we describe clinical features of an immunocompromised patient who developed infection due to colistin-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii while on long-term colistin therapy. We analyzed phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, molecular mechanisms of colistin resistance, and in vitro and in vivo fitness of sequential colistin-sensitive and colistin-resistant strains isolated from the patient. Both colistin-sensitive and colistin-resistant strains were XDR and showed identical ST78 genotype. At variance with prior reports on colistin-resistant strains of A. baumannii, resistance to colistin due to P233S mutation in PmrB sensor kinase did not associate with any measurable reduction in strain fitness, growth characteristics, and virulence.

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