Evaluation of the Frequency of the UropathogenicEscherichia coli Genotypes Resistant to Multidrug using the iucA, iucB, iucC, and iucD Siderophore Genes

Urinary tract infection is one of the most common bacterial infections in humans, and Escherichia coli is one of the most important factors. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the diversity of Europathogenic E. coli genotypes based on iucA, iucB, iucC, and iucD genes.

In this study, plates containing a positive culture of urinary tract infection of E. coli were collected from four treatment centers in Shiraz, Iran. After determining phenotypic and genotypic identity, 100 isolates of E. coli were isolated. The bacterial genome was extracted using a kit. After genetic confirmation of the isolates using 16S rRNA, antibiotic resistance and susceptibility were performed for 10 antibiotics out of 9 classes using the disk diffusion method according to the CLSI standard. Frequency investigation of the virulence factors (iuc gene) was performed through the PCR molecular method and specific primers.

The prevalence rates of iucA, iucB, iucC, and iucD genes were estimated at 95%, 60%, 72%, and 92%, respectively. The amount of resistance of 10 antibiotics of azithromycin, ampicillin, cefotaxime, nalidixic acid, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, cefepime, aztreonam, gentamicin, and nitrofurantoin were also determined at 95%, 86%, 68%, 66%, 65%, 64%, 51%, 46%, 44%, and 14%. In addition, 98% of the isolates had multidrug resistance.

The present study showed that the high prevalence of the iuc gene among E. coli strains indicated the importance of this gene in the pathogenesis and genetic diversity of this bacterium.