A Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica with a novel type of blaVEB–1-carrying plasmid isolated from a zebra in China

• Published in: Frontiers in microbiology Vol. 14; p. 1276314
• Main Authors: Guan, Jiayao, Zhou, Wei, Guo, Jingyi, Zheng, Lin, Lu, Gejin, Hua, Fuyou, Liu, Mingwei, Ji, Xue, Sun, Yang, Zhu, Lingwei, Guo, Xuejun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A 02.11.2023
• Subjects: blaVEB–1; drug resistance; mobile genetic element; plasmid; Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica; zoonotic bacteria
• ISSN: 1664-302X; 1664-302X
• DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1276314

Background Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica is an emerging fly-borne zoonotic pathogen, which causes infections in immunocompromised patients and some animals. Herein, we reported a W. chitiniclastica BM-Y from a dead zebra in China. Methods The complete genome sequencing of BM-Y showed that this isolate carried one chromosome and one novel type of bla VEB–1 -carrying plasmid. Detailed genetic dissection was applied to this plasmid to display the genetic environment of bla VEB–1 . Results Three novel insertion sequence (IS) elements, namely IS Woch1 , IS Woch2 , and IS Woch3 , were found in this plasmid. aadB , aacA1 , and gcuG were located downstream of bla VEB–1 , composing a gene cassette array bla VEB–1 – aadB – aacA1 – gcuG bracketed by an intact IS Woch1 and a truncated one, which was named the bla VEB–1 region. The 5′-RACE experiments revealed that the transcription start site of the bla VEB–1 region was located in the intact IS Woch1 and this IS provided a strong promoter for the bla VEB–1 region. Conclusion The spread of the bla VEB–1 -carrying plasmid might enhance the ability of W. chitiniclastica to survive under drug selection pressure and aggravate the difficulty in treating infections caused by bla VEB–1 -carrying W. chitiniclastica . To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the genetic characterization of a novel bla VEB–1 -carrying plasmid with new ISs from W. chitiniclastica .