High genetic plasticity in multidrug-resistant sequence type 3-IncHI2 plasmids revealed by sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis.

Authors: Fang, Liang-Xing and Li, Xing-Ping and Deng, Guo-Hui and Li, Shu-Min and Yang, Run-Shi and Wu, Zuo-Wei and Liao, Xiao-Ping and Sun, Jian and Liu, Ya-Hong

We report a novel fusion plasmid, pP2-3T, cointegrating sequence type 3 (ST3)-IncHI2 with an IncFII plasmid backbone mediating multidrug resistance (MDR) and virulence. Phylogenetic analysis and comparative genomics revealed that pP2-3T and other MDR ST3-IncHI2 plasmids clustered together, representing a unique IncHI2 lineage that exhibited high conservation in backbones of plasmids but possessed highly genetic plasticity in various regions by acquiring numerous antibiotic resistance genes and fusing with other plasmids. Surveillance studies should be performed to monitor multiresistance IncHI2 plasmids among Enterobacteriaceae. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

Journal: Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy
DOI: 10.1128/AAC.02068-17
Year: 2018

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