Session: CSAS Graduate Student Oral Competition: PHD

154 - Virulence Potential of Antimicrobial Resistant Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli from Poultry in a Caenorhabditis Elegans Model

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

4:30 PM – 4:45 PM EST

Location: Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC), M100/M103

Presenting Author(s)

Chongwu Yang, PhD

PhD Canadidate
Department of Animal Science, University of Manitoba
winnipeg, Manitoba

PDF Slides

Author(s)

MD

Moussa Diarra

Research Scientist
Agriculture Agri-Food Canada
Guelph, Ontario
MR

Muhammad Attiq Rehman

Molecular Biologist
Agriculture Agri-Food Canada
Guelph, Ontario
LL

Linyan Li

PhD Candidate
State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University
Nanchang, Jiangxi
HY

Hai Yu

Molecular Technician
Agriculture Agri-Food Canada
Guelph, Ontario
XY

Xianhua Yin

Molecular Technician
Agriculture Agri-Food Canada
Guelph, Ontario
MA

Mueen Aslam

Associate Director
Agriculture Agri-Food Canada
Lacombe, Alberta
CC

Catherine Carrillo

Research Scientist
Agriculture Agri-Food Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
Chengbo Yang

Associate Professor
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba
JG

Joshua Gong, Ph.D.

Research Scientist
Agriculture Agri-Food Canada
Guelph, Ontario

This study investigated virulence potential of poultry antimicrobial resistant extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC). A total of 46 E. coli isolates from poultry meat, feces, or humans were sequenced and identified as ExPEC. Based on their characteristics, eight of these ExPEC isolates were evaluated for their potentials using a Caenorhabditis elegans infection model. The life-span of C. elegans in response to these eight isolates was examined in three life-span experiments: 1) E. coli OP 50 (negative control), K88+ enterotoxigenic E. coli strain JG280 (positive control), and an ExPEC isolate from human urinal tract infection; 2) three ExPEC isolates from chicken and turkey retail meats; 3) four ExPEC isolates from chicken feces with different antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles or a various number of virulence genes (VGs). All 46 isolates belonged to 24 serotypes among which 6 were of serotype O25:H4 Sequence Type 131 (ST131). Interestingly, all ST 131 isolates from chicken or turkey retail meats clustered with a human UTI isolate belonging to the similar serotype and ST type. The types and numbers of AGRs and VGs varied among the eight selected isolates for C. elegans model. The human ExPEC induced a similar effect as the JG280 on reducing (P < 0.05) survival of C. elegans. Interestingly, chicken and turkey meat ExPEC isolates, caused similar negative impacts on the survival of worms as the human ExPEC. Additionally, fecal ExPEC isolates reduced (P < 0.05) the survival of C. elegans compared to OP50. However, the survival of C. elegans was not reduced with an increasing number of VGs and did not seem to be affected by AMR profiles. This study indicated the virulence potential of ExPEC isolates from retail poultry meat or feces. The relationship between specific AMR profiles and/or numbers of VGs with pathogenicity in these E. coli isolates deserves further investigations.