Survey of Clinical Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacter cloacae Isolates in a Chinese Tertiary Hospital, 2012-2014

A total of 72 consecutive and nonduplicate clinical extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacter cloacae isolates were collected from our hospital from 2012 to 2014 for analyzing the prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes, 16S rRNA methyltransferase (16S-RMTase) encoding genes, and carbapenem-hydrolyzing beta-lactamase (CH beta L) genes, as well as integrons. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were carried out to characterize the genetic relatedness. The isolates mainly harbored bla(CTX-M) (n = 51, 70.8%) and bla(SHV) (n = 46, 63.9%) genes. High prevalence of PMQR genes qnrA1 (n = 24, 33.3%), qnrB (n = 4, 5.6%), qnrS1 (n = 2, 2.8%), and aac(6')-Ib-cr (n = 21, 29.2%) was observed. Furthermore, CH beta Ls IMP-4 (n = 6, 8.3%) and IMP-8 (n = 4, 5.6%), as well as class I integrons (n = 29, 40.3%), were found in the ESBL-producing E. cloacae isolates. PFGE revealed 69 pulsotypes. MLST distinguished 44 sequence types (STs) with ST124 (n = 7, 9.7%), ST50 (n = 3, 4.2%), ST45 (n = 3, 4.2%), and ST93 (n = 3, 4.2%) being the predominant STs. The results indicate a possible clonal transmission of ST124 isolates in the hospital that needs further surveillance. The genetic diversity of the other numerous distinctive STs indicates that most of the ESBL-producing E. cloacae in our hospital might arise through stepwise accumulations of multiple drug-resistance determinants in different clones.