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Mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance and genetic relatedness among enterococci isolated from dogs and cats in the United States
Author(s) -
Jackson C.R.,
FedorkaCray P.J.,
Davis J.A.,
Barrett J.B.,
Brousse J.H.,
Gustafson J.,
Kucher M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2009.04619.x
Subject(s) - cats , antimicrobial , biology , antibiotic resistance , microbiology and biotechnology , resistance (ecology) , genetics , medicine , ecology , antibiotics
Aims: In this study, mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance and genetic relatedness among resistant enterococci from dogs and cats in the United States were determined. Methods and Results: Enterococci resistant to chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, lincomycin, quinupristin/dalfopristin and tetracycline were screened for the presence of 15 antimicrobial resistance genes. Five tetracycline resistance genes [ tet (M), tet (O), tet (L), tet (S) and tet (U)] were detected with tet (M) accounting for approx. 60% (130/216) of tetracycline resistance; erm (B) was also widely distributed among 96% (43/45) of the erythromycin‐resistant enterococci. Five aminoglycoside resistance genes were also detected among the kanamycin‐resistant isolates with the majority of isolates (25/36; 69%) containing aph(3′)‐IIIa . The bifunctional aminoglycoside resistance gene, aac (6′)‐Ie ‐aph (2″)‐Ia, was detected in gentamicin‐resistant isolates and ant (6)‐Ia in streptomycin‐resistant isolates. The most common gene combination among enterococci from dogs ( n = 11) was erm (B), aac (6′)‐Ie‐ aph (2″)‐Ia, aph(3′)‐IIIa , tet (M), while tet (O), tet (L) were most common among cats ( n = 18). Using pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), isolates clustered according to enterococcal species, source and antimicrobial gene content and indistinguishable patterns were observed for some isolates from dogs and cats. Conclusion: Enterococci from dogs and cats may be a source of antimicrobial resistance genes. Significance and Impact of the Study: Dogs and cats may act as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes that can be transferred from pets to people. Although host‐specific ecovars of enterococcal species have been described, identical PFGE patterns suggest that enterococcal strains may be exchanged between these two animal species.