Characterization of non-o157 Escherichia coli from cattle faecal samples in the North-West province of South Africa

Bumunang, Emmanuel W.; McAllister, Tim A.; Zaheer, Rahat; Ortega Polo, Rodrigo; Stanford, Kim; King, Robin; Niu, Yan D.; Ateba, Collins N.

Characterization of non-o157 Escherichia coli from cattle faecal samples in the North-West province of South Africa

Simple item page

Full item details

creativework.keywords - en: Cattle--Feces; Escherichia coli; Drug resistance in microorganisms; Biofilms; Virulence (Microbiology); Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; Whole genome sequencing
creativework.keywords - fr: Bovins--Fèces; Escherichia coli; Bactéries pathogènes--Résistance aux médicaments; Biofilms; Virulence (Microbiologie); Électrophorèse en champ pulsé; Séquençage du génome entier
dc.contributor.author: Bumunang, Emmanuel W.; McAllister, Tim A.; Zaheer, Rahat; Ortega Polo, Rodrigo; Stanford, Kim; King, Robin; Niu, Yan D.; Ateba, Collins N.
dc.date.accepted: 2019-08-17
dc.date.accessioned: 2025-01-24T19:39:56Z
dc.date.available: 2025-01-24T19:39:56Z
dc.date.issued: 2019-08-20
dc.date.submitted: 2019-07-16
dc.description.abstract - en: Escherichia coli are commensal bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract of mammals, but some strains have acquired Shiga-toxins and can cause enterohemorrhagic diarrhoea and kidney failure in humans. Shiga-toxigenic E. coli (STEC) strains such as E. coli O157:H7 and some non-O157 strains also contain other virulence traits, some of which contribute to their ability to form biofilms. This study characterized non-O157 E. coli from South African cattle faecal samples for their virulence potential, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), biofilm-forming ability, and genetic relatedness using culture-based methods, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and whole genome sequencing (WGS). Of 80 isolates screened, 77.5% (62/80) possessed Shiga-toxins genes. Of 18 antimicrobials tested, phenotypic resistance was detected against seven antimicrobials. Resistance ranged from 1.3% (1/80) for ampicillin-sulbactam to 20% (16/80) for tetracycline. Antimicrobial resistance genes were infrequently detected except for tetA, which was found in 31.3% (25/80) and tetB detected in 11.3% (9/80) of isolates. Eight biofilm-forming associated genes were detected in STEC isolates (n = 62) and two non-STEC strains. Prevalence of biofilm genes ranged from 31.3% (20/64) for ehaAβ passenger to 100% for curli structural subunit (csgA) and curli regulators (csgA and crl). Of the 64 STEC and multi-drug resistant isolates, 70.3% (45/64) and 37.5% (24/64) formed strong biofilms on polystyrene at 22 and 37 °C, respectively. Of 59 isolates screened by PFGE, 37 showed unique patterns and the remaining isolates were grouped into five clusters with a ≥90% relatedness. In silico serotyping following WGS on a subset of 24 non-O157 STEC isolates predicted 20 serotypes comprising three novel serotypes, indicating their diversity as potential pathogens. These findings show that North West South African cattle harbour genetically diverse, virulent, antimicrobial-resistant and biofilm-forming non-O157 E. coli. Biofilm-forming ability may increase the likelihood of persistence of these pathogens in the environment and facilitate their dissemination, increasing the risk of cross contamination or establishment of infections in hosts.
dc.identifier.citation: Bumunang, E. W., McAllister, T. A., Zaheer, R., Ortega Polo, R., Stanford, K., King, R., Niu, Y. D., & Ateba, C. N. (2019). Characterization of non-O157 Escherichia coli from cattle faecal samples in the North-West province of South Africa. Microorganisms, 7(8), 272. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7080272
dc.identifier.doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7080272
dc.identifier.uri: https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/3351
dc.language.iso: en
dc.publisher - en: MDPI
dc.rights - en: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.rights - fr: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.rights.uri - en: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.uri - fr: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.fr
dc.subject - en: Bacteria; Cattle
dc.subject - fr: Bactérie; Bovins
dc.subject.en - en: Bacteria; Cattle
dc.subject.fr - fr: Bactérie; Bovins
dc.title - en: Characterization of non-o157 Escherichia coli from cattle faecal samples in the North-West province of South Africa
dc.type - en: Article
dc.type - fr: Article
local.acceptedmanuscript.articlenum: 272
local.article.journalissue: 8
local.article.journaltitle - en: Microorganisms
local.article.journalvolume: 7
local.pagination: 1-19
local.peerreview - en: Yes
local.peerreview - fr: Oui
local.requestdoi: No