Bioinformatics

Harvesting and amplifying gene cassettes confers cross-resistance to critically important antibiotics

Amikacin and piperacillin/tazobactam are frequent antibiotic choices to treat bloodstream infection, which is commonly fatal and most often caused by bacteria from the family _Enterobacterales_. Here we show that two gene cassettes located …

Improving Nitrofurantoin Resistance Prediction in Escherichia coli from Whole Genome Sequence by Integrating NfsA/B Enzyme Assays

Nitrofurantoin resistance in _Escherichia coli_ is primarily caused by mutations damaging two enzymes, NfsA and NfsB. Studies based on small isolate collections with defined nitrofurantoin MICs have found significant random genetic drift in _nfsA_ …

Hound: A novel tool for automated mapping of genotype to phenotype in bacterial genomes assembled de novo

Increasing evidence suggests that microbial species have a strong within species genetic heterogeneity. This can be problematic for the analysis of prokaryote genomes, which commonly relies on a reference genome to guide the assembly process: any …

Genomic epidemiology of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli from Argentinian pig and dairy farms reveals animal-specific patterns of co-resistance and resistance mechanisms

Little is known about the ecology of critically important antibiotic resistance among opportunistic human pathogens (e.g. _Escherichia coli_) on South American farms. By studying 70 farms in central-eastern Argentina, we identified that third-generation cephalosporin resistance (3GC-R) in _E. coli_ was mediated by mechanisms seen more often in certain species (pigs or dairy cattle) and that 3GC-R pig E. coli were more likely to be co-resistant to florfenicol and amoxicillin/clavulanate. This suggests that on-farm antibiotic usage is key to selecting the types of _E. coli_ present on these farms. 3GC-R E. coli were highly phylogenetically variable and we identified the de novo mobilisation of the resistance gene blaROB, alongside a novel florfenicol resistance gene, from pig pathogens into _E. coli_ on a mobile genetic element that was widespread in the study region. Overall, this shows the importance of surveying poorly studied regions for critically important antibiotic resistance which might impact human health.