Since 2009 the Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Veterinary Sciences (DVS) of Turin University, has been gathering bacteria of clinical relevance. The main feature of this collection is a large assortment of E. coli, mainly uropathogen strains isolated from cats and dogs. Currently this collection contains more than 300 strains. All isolates were identified according to morphological and biochemical features (1). Further authentication and characterization were conducted through molecular methods (e.g. 16S rRNA ribotyping; MLST) (2). More in detail the properties of each strain was verified as mean of phylogenetic group, virulence factors, ESBL-production, and antibiotic resistance profile. E. coli strains were assigned to four main phylogenetic groups: A, B1, B2 and D. The majority of the pathogenic isolates belong to B2 group, while a minority of them to B1 and D groups. Moreover these strains harbor different virulence factors such as P and S pili, fimbrial adhesins (fimA, sfa), siderophores and toxins (hlyA, cnf1, cdt). The combination of genes that appears with high frequency include papC, sfa, hlyA and cnf1. Some strains present in this collection were susceptible to all antibiotics tested while a large majority showed resistance to several antimicrobial drugs and was designated as being multidrug resistant (MDR). All the strains were stored at -80°C following standard protocols. These preserved strains were recorded in a unique database, a comprehensive platform named Turin University Culture Collections (TUCC), which constitutes the center of a network comprising many different microbial collections. Each strain in this network is accompanied by data on taxonomy, methods of isolation and identification, storage and cultivation conditions, and particular features, with an emphasis on phenotypic and antimicrobial profiles. Emergence of multidrug resistance amongst pet animals, especially those with a potential for zoonotic transmission, poses a serious risk to human health thus selection and storage of strains with peculiar/detailed characteristics as the ones present in this collection (e.g. presence of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance pattern) make them interesting for the purposes of scientific research and application in biotechnology. Indeed this collection has been already used to detect MDR resistance pattern and epidemiological studies concerning antibiotic resistance. Moreover this UPEC Collection may play an important role in the students’ educational process and acts as a specialized scientific depository of pathogenic bacteria. Finally it represents an example of a Veterinary Italian Collection that meets international requirements for long-term microbial conservation.
A collection of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolated from pets at the Microbiological Laboratory of Department of Veterinary Sciences (Turin University, Italy)
Nebbia P;Costantino B;Bellato A;Stella MC;Robino P
2019-01-01
Abstract
Since 2009 the Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Veterinary Sciences (DVS) of Turin University, has been gathering bacteria of clinical relevance. The main feature of this collection is a large assortment of E. coli, mainly uropathogen strains isolated from cats and dogs. Currently this collection contains more than 300 strains. All isolates were identified according to morphological and biochemical features (1). Further authentication and characterization were conducted through molecular methods (e.g. 16S rRNA ribotyping; MLST) (2). More in detail the properties of each strain was verified as mean of phylogenetic group, virulence factors, ESBL-production, and antibiotic resistance profile. E. coli strains were assigned to four main phylogenetic groups: A, B1, B2 and D. The majority of the pathogenic isolates belong to B2 group, while a minority of them to B1 and D groups. Moreover these strains harbor different virulence factors such as P and S pili, fimbrial adhesins (fimA, sfa), siderophores and toxins (hlyA, cnf1, cdt). The combination of genes that appears with high frequency include papC, sfa, hlyA and cnf1. Some strains present in this collection were susceptible to all antibiotics tested while a large majority showed resistance to several antimicrobial drugs and was designated as being multidrug resistant (MDR). All the strains were stored at -80°C following standard protocols. These preserved strains were recorded in a unique database, a comprehensive platform named Turin University Culture Collections (TUCC), which constitutes the center of a network comprising many different microbial collections. Each strain in this network is accompanied by data on taxonomy, methods of isolation and identification, storage and cultivation conditions, and particular features, with an emphasis on phenotypic and antimicrobial profiles. Emergence of multidrug resistance amongst pet animals, especially those with a potential for zoonotic transmission, poses a serious risk to human health thus selection and storage of strains with peculiar/detailed characteristics as the ones present in this collection (e.g. presence of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance pattern) make them interesting for the purposes of scientific research and application in biotechnology. Indeed this collection has been already used to detect MDR resistance pattern and epidemiological studies concerning antibiotic resistance. Moreover this UPEC Collection may play an important role in the students’ educational process and acts as a specialized scientific depository of pathogenic bacteria. Finally it represents an example of a Veterinary Italian Collection that meets international requirements for long-term microbial conservation.
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