Abstract

In this study presence of virulence genes in multidrug resistant Escherichia coli isolated from Mula-Mutha river, Pune, India was undertaken. The objective was to understand whether the isolates were of diarrhoeagenic or of environmental origin. This was essential since the river flows through urban and rural parts of Pune and its water is used not only for industrial and agricultural purposes but also for domestic usage. One hundred and two multidrug E. coli isolates were selected from our previous study which detected genes coding for antibiotic resistance as well as identified integrons associated with multidrug resistance. Isolates were subjected to multiplex PCR to detect presence of virulence genes, set1A, set1B, sen astA, aggA, aafA, pet, stx1 and stx. Sequencing was performed to confirm the amplified PCR product. Seven of the 102 E. coli isolates showed gene set1A alone identifying them as Enteroaggregative E. coli. Thus, the findings revealed that majority of drug resistant E. coli were environmental in origin. The presence of antibiotic resistant genes, integrons in the environment as well as diarrhoeagenic E. coli isolates is a warning and calls for efficient public health measures to ensure that untreated sewage and industrial waste does not enter the Mula-Mutha river.

摘要

在这项研究中，从印度浦那穆拉穆萨河分离的多药耐药大肠杆菌中存在毒力基因。目的是了解分离株是腹泻性的还是环境来源的。这是必不可少的，因为这条河流流经浦那的城市和农村地区，其水不仅用于工业和农业用途，还用于家庭用途。从我们之前的研究中选择了102株多药大肠杆菌分离株，该研究检测了编码抗生素耐药性的基因以及鉴定出与多药耐药性相关的整合子。对分离物进行多重 PCR 以检测毒力基因set1A、set1B、sen astA、aggA、aafA、pet、stx1 和 stx。进行测序以确认扩增的PCR产物。102株大肠杆菌中的 7株仅显示基因集1A，将它们鉴定为肠聚集性大肠杆菌。因此，研究结果表明，大多数耐药性大肠杆菌是环境起源的。抗生素抗性基因、环境中的整合子以及引起腹泻的大肠杆菌分离株的存在是一个警告，并呼吁采取有效的公共卫生措施，以确保未经处理的污水和工业废物不会进入穆拉穆萨河。