AUTHOR=Li Bing , Feng Jiao , Zhan Zhe , Yin Zhe , Jiang Qiyu , Wei Ping , Chen Xingming , Gao Bo , Hou Jun , Mao Panyong , Wu Weili , Chen Weijun , Tong Yigang , Wang Jinglin , Li Boan , Zhou Dongsheng 

TITLE=Dissemination of KPC-2-Encoding IncX6 Plasmids Among Multiple Enterobacteriaceae Species in a Single Chinese Hospital

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00478

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.00478

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Forty-five KPC-producing <italic>Enterobacteriaceae</italic> strains were isolated from multiple departments in a Chinese public hospital from 2014 to 2015. Genome sequencing of four representative strains, namely <italic>Proteus mirabilis</italic> GN2, <italic>Serratia marcescens</italic> GN26, <italic>Morganella morganii</italic> GN28, and <italic>Klebsiella aerogenes</italic> E20, indicated the presence of <italic>bla</italic><sub>KPC-2</sub>-carrying IncX6 plasmids pGN2-KPC, pGN26-KPC, pGN28-KPC, and pE20-KPC in the four strains, respectively. These plasmids were genetically closely related to one another and to the only previously sequenced IncX6 plasmid, pKPC3_SZ. Each of the plasmids carried a single accessory module containing the <italic>bla</italic><sub>KPC-2/3</sub>-carrying ΔTn<italic>6296</italic> derivatives. The ΔTn<italic>6292</italic> element from pGN26-KPC also contained <italic>qnrS</italic>, which was absent from all other plasmids. Overall, pKPC3_SZ-like <italic>bla</italic><sub>KPC</sub>-carrying IncX6 plasmids were detected by PCR in 44.4% of the KPC-producing isolates, which included <italic>K. aerogenes, P. mirabilis, S. marcescens, M. morganii, Escherichia coli</italic>, and <italic>Klebsiella pneumoniae</italic>, and were obtained from six different departments of the hospital. Data presented herein provided insights into the genomic diversity and evolution of IncX6 plasmids, as well as the dissemination and epidemiology of <italic>bla</italic><sub>KPC</sub>-carrying IncX6 plasmids among <italic>Enterobacteriaceae</italic> in a hospital setting.</p>