Antimicrobial susceptibility results
MIC (μg/mL) ranges of nine antibiotics (penicillin, ceftriaxone, cefepime, imipenem, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, clindamycin, minocycline, nalidixic acid, and ciprofloxacin) for 57 Capnocytophaga sp. isolates from dogs and cats were evaluated. The MIC distributions and MIC80 values are listed in Table 1.
The MIC80 values ranged from 0.023 to 0.5, except for nalidixic acid (>256). For some or all isolates, the MICs of penicillin, ceftriaxone, cefepime, clindamycin, minocycline, nalidixic acid, and ciprofloxacin were more than 1. In contrast, MICs of imipenem and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid were less than 1 for all isolates.
Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes and QRDRs among Capnocytophaga spp.
Antimicrobial resistance genes detected using PCR and WGS and chromosomal mutations in QRDRs, along with MIC values, are summarized in Table 2.
PCR detection of known resistance genes: class A β-lactamase gene blacfxA2 was found in an isolate (C. cynodegmi), class D β-lactamase gene blaOXA-347 in two isolates (C. canimorsus and C. canis), macrolide resistance gene emrF in two isolates (C. canimorsus and C. stomatis), and tetracycline resistance gene tetQ in three isolates (C. canimorsus, C. cynodegmi, and C. stomatis). The class A β-lactamase gene blacfxA1, class D β-lactamase gene blaybxI, and tetracycline resistance gene tetX were not found in any isolates. The presence of resistance genes was consistent with the elevated MIC values of the drugs to which the genes were associated.
For two isolates (C. stomatis 11022B-2 and 11058B-1), the MIC values of β-lactams were relatively high, although β-lactamase genes were not detected using PCR. Applying WGS contig sequences with ResFinder 4.1 and BLAST search, an unidentified resistance gene (945 bp) with approximately 70% identity to the CfxA family class A β-lactamase genes was found. The identity of the unidentified gene between the two C. stomatis isolates was 100%. Two C. stomatis isolates (C. stomatis 11022B-2 and 11058B-1), one blacfxA2 harboring isolate, and two blaOXA-347 harboring isolates were positive for cefinase. Thus, the unidentified resistance gene was assumed to be a β-lactamase gene and putatively named cst-1 (Capnocytophaga stomatis-1).
QRDRs for DNA gyrase gene A (gyrA) were detected in 17 isolates (4 from C. canimorsus, 2 from C. canis, 3 from C. cynodegmi, and 8 from C. stomatis). All QRDRs were substitutions of Ser83 to Pro83 and Asp86 to Glu86 (Pro83/Glu86). For 17 isolates with Pro83/Glu86, the MIC values of NA and CPFX were 64 to >256 and 0.38 to 4, respectively.
Comparative analysis of the amino acid sequences of CST-1
A phylogenetic tree was constructed by aligning the full-length amino acid sequence of CST-1 with the sequences of the related CfxA family and representative members of class A, subclass A2, β-lactamases [18,19] (Fig. 1). CST-1 was closely related to CfxA family members; however, it was classified as a branch different from the CfxA family cluster. CST-1 was also distinctly branched from other class A, subclass A2, β-lactamases.
Figure 2 shows an alignment of the amino acid sequence of CST-1 with those of representative members of class A, subclass A2, β-lactamases, proposed previously [18]. CST-1 had three major motifs (70SxxK, 130SDN, and 234KTG) associated with catalytic mechanisms and/or substrate binding common in class A β-lactamases. CST-1 also harbored a Ω-loop motif specific to subclass A2 β-lactamases containing the E166 residue involved in catalytic mechanism and/or in substrate binding.
Comparison of genetic structures around cst-1
Genetic regions around cst-1 were compared between C. stomatis 11022B-2 and 11058B-1 isolates (Fig. 3.). Upstream of cst-1, the mobilization protein gene, hypothetical protein-coding sequence, and site-specific integrase gene were commonly present. The homology of the common regions between the two isolates was 100%, and no specific IS or transposition motif was found in the IS finder database (https://www-is.biotoul.fr/index.php) search. However, the genetic compositions upstream and downstream of these common regions were completely different.
cst-1 could be chromosomally encoded because of the presence of rRNA and tRNA genes in the same contig as cst-1 in C. stomatis 11022B-2 and 11058B-1. cst-1 appeared to be located at different chromosomal positions in the two isolates. The GC content of a series of site-specific integrase gene-hypothetical protein coding sequence-mobilization protein-cst-1 was 47%, which was higher than that of C. stomatis 11022B-2 and 11058B-1 whole genomes (approximately 36%). Thus, cst-1 may have been acquired from other bacteria via an integron cassette.
In the BLAST search, a β-lactamase gene (putatively named as cst-2), which differed from cst-1 in only one amino acid, was found in Bacteroides stercoris strain TF03-6 (accession number NZ_QSSV01) detected from human feces in Shenzhen, China, in 2012. Although the nucleotide sequences and genetic composition upstream of cst-2 have not been fully deposited in the NCBI database, the presence of an IS5 family transposase between cst-2 and the mobilization protein gene was characteristic.
Properties of CST-1 β-lactamase
To clarify the resistance phenotype of cst-1, full-length cst-1 (945 bp) was transfected into the plasmid vector pET28a and inserted into non-β-lactamase-producing E. coli BL21 (DE3). The MIC values of nine β-lactam antibiotics alone or in combination with a β-lactamase were determined using an E-test (Table 3). The cst-1-positive C. stomatis 11022B-2 and 11058B-1 with 11021B-1, in which none of the resistance genes were detected, and the cst-1 transconjugant E. coli BL21 (DE3) [CST-1/pET28a], pET28a plasmid-inserted E. coli BL21 (DE3), and E. coli BL21 (DE3) were tested.
The MIC values of penicillin, ampicillin, and cephalothin for C. stomatis 11022B-2 and 11058B-1 increased remarkably compared with those for C. stomatis 11021B-1. Furthermore, the MIC values of cefepime and cefoxitin for C. stomatis 11058B-1 presented a certain extent of increase. For both C. stomatis 11022B-2 and 11058B-1, the addition of sulbactam decreased the MIC value of ampicillin.
The blaCST-1 transconjugant E. coli BL21 (DE3) [CST-1/pET28a] had significantly high MIC values of penicillin, ampicillin, cephalothin, and cefoxitin compared to pET28a plasmid-inserted E. coli BL21 (DE3) and E. coli BL21 (DE3). The MIC value of ampicillin decreased with the addition of sulbactam.