Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Functional and genetic characterization of an incF-type multidrug resistance plasmid isolated from fresh spinach

Adeyinka O. Ajayi, Benjamin J. Perry, Christopher K. Yost
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/358887
Adeyinka O. Ajayi
1Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, SK. Canada. S4S 6A1
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Benjamin J. Perry
1Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, SK. Canada. S4S 6A1
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Christopher K. Yost
1Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, SK. Canada. S4S 6A1
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

The presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and clinically-relevant antibiotic resistance genes within raw foods is an on-going food safety concern. It is particularly important to be aware of the microbial quality of fresh produce because foods such as leafy greens including lettuce and spinach are minimally processed and often consumed raw therefore they often lack a microbial inactivation step. This study characterizes the genetic and functional aspects of a mobile, multidrug resistance plasmid, pLGP4, isolated from fresh spinach bought from a farmers’ market. pLGP4 was isolated using a bacterial conjugation approach. The functional characteristics of the plasmid were determined using multidrug resistance profiling and plasmid stability assays. pLGP4 was resistant to six of the eight antibiotics tested and included ciprofloxacin and meropenem. The plasmid was stably maintained within host strains in the absence of an antibiotic selection. The plasmid DNA was sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq high throughput sequencing approach and assembled into contigs using SPAdes. PCR mapping and Sanger DNA sequencing of PCR amplicons was used to complete the plasmid DNA sequence. Comparative sequence analysis determined that the plasmid was similar to plasmids that have been frequently associated with multidrug resistant clinical isolates of Klebsiella spp. DNA sequence analysis showed pLGP4 harboured qnrB1 and several other antibiotic resistance genes including three β-lactamases: blaTEM-1, blaCTX-M-15 and blaOXA-1. The detection of a multidrug-resistant, clinically-relevant plasmid on fresh spinach emphasizes the importance for vegetable producers to implement evidence-based food safety approaches into their production practises to ensure the food safety of leafy greens.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted June 29, 2018.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Functional and genetic characterization of an incF-type multidrug resistance plasmid isolated from fresh spinach
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Functional and genetic characterization of an incF-type multidrug resistance plasmid isolated from fresh spinach
Adeyinka O. Ajayi, Benjamin J. Perry, Christopher K. Yost
bioRxiv 358887; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/358887
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Functional and genetic characterization of an incF-type multidrug resistance plasmid isolated from fresh spinach
Adeyinka O. Ajayi, Benjamin J. Perry, Christopher K. Yost
bioRxiv 358887; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/358887

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Microbiology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4672)
  • Biochemistry (10338)
  • Bioengineering (7658)
  • Bioinformatics (26298)
  • Biophysics (13500)
  • Cancer Biology (10671)
  • Cell Biology (15412)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (8487)
  • Ecology (12805)
  • Epidemiology (2067)
  • Evolutionary Biology (16828)
  • Genetics (11382)
  • Genomics (15468)
  • Immunology (10600)
  • Microbiology (25166)
  • Molecular Biology (10205)
  • Neuroscience (54383)
  • Paleontology (399)
  • Pathology (1666)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2889)
  • Physiology (4334)
  • Plant Biology (9235)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1586)
  • Synthetic Biology (2554)
  • Systems Biology (6773)
  • Zoology (1461)