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Genotype diversity and antibiotic resistance risk in Aeromonas hydrophila in Sichuan, China

  • Veterinary Microbiology - Research Paper
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Abstract

Sichuan is a significant aquaculture province in China, with a total aquaculture output of 1.72 × 106 tons in 2022. One of the most significant microorganisms hurting the Sichuan aquaculture is Aeromonas hydrophila, whose genotype and antibiotic resistance are yet unknown. This study isolated a total of 64 strains of A. hydrophila from various regions during September 2019 to June 2021 within Sichuan province, China. The technique of Multi-Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) was used for the purpose of molecular typing. Meanwhile, identification of antibiotic resistance phenotype and antibiotic resistance gene was performed. The findings of the study revealed that 64 isolates exhibited 29 sequence types (ST) throughout different regions in Sichuan, with 25 of these ST types being newly identified. Notably, the ST251 emerged as the predominant sequence type responsible for the pandemic. The resistance rate of isolated strains to roxithromycin was as high as 98.3%, followed by co-trimoxazole (87.5%), sulfafurazole (87.5%), imipenem (80%), amoxicillin (60%), and clindamycin (57.8%). Fifteen strains of A. hydrophila exhibited resistance to medicines across a minimum of three categories, suggesting the development of multidrug resistance in these isolates. A total of 63 ARGs were detected from the isolates, which mediated a range of antibiotic resistance mechanisms, with deactivation and efflux potentially serving as the primary mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. This study revealed the diversity of A. hydrophila genotypes and the risk of antibiotic resistance in Sichuan, providing reference for scientific and effective control of A. hydrophila infection.

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Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are included within the article that are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all authors who kindly provided their hard work in the program.

Funding

This research was supported by the Sichuan Innovation Team Project of Agricultural Industry Technology System (SCCXTD-15) and Fish Diseases Prevention and Control Project of JPDC (No.23XB0027).

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Kun Peng: writing, methodology, investigation. Mengzhu Chen: investigation, methodology, formal analysis. Yilin Wang: methodology, investigation. Ziqi Tian: investigation, formal analysis. Longjun Deng: investigation, data curation. Tiancai Li: data curation, formal analysis. Yang Feng: methodology, data curation. Ping Ouyang: project administration, resources. Xiaoli Huang: conceptualization, methodology. Defang Chen: writing — review and editing. Yi Geng: funding acquisition, supervision. All authors contributed to manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version. Kun Peng and Mengzhu Chen contributed equally to this work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yi Geng.

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Ethics approval

All animal procedures were conducted by the Animal Experiment General Requirement in China (record number GB/T 35823–2018) and were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of Sichuan Agricultural University.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Maria Aparecida Scatamburlo Moreira

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Peng, K., Chen, M., Wang, Y. et al. Genotype diversity and antibiotic resistance risk in Aeromonas hydrophila in Sichuan, China. Braz J Microbiol 55, 901–910 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-023-01187-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-023-01187-9

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