Adhesion factors and antimicrobial resistance of Escherichia coli strains associated with colibacillosis in piglets in Colombia

Vet World Vol.16 June-2023 Article-7

Research Article

Veterinary World, 16(6): 1231-1237

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2023.1231-1237

Omar V. Pabón-Rodríguez¹, Karina López-López², Gloria A. Casas-Bedoya³, José D. Mogollón-Galvis⁴, and Liliana Serna-Cock⁵

1. Departamento de Ciencia Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Palmira, Colombia.
2. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Palmira, Colombia.
3. Departamento de Producción Animal, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y de Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
4. Departamento de Salud Animal, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y de Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
5. Departamento de Ingeniería, Facultad de Ingeniería y Administración, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Palmira, Colombia.

Background and Aim: The pathogenicity of Escherichia coli is determined by the presence of genes that mediate virulence factors such as adherence capacity and toxin production. This research aimed to identify the adhesion factors and antibiotic resistance capacity of E. coli strains associated with diarrhea in piglets in Colombia.

Materials and Methods: Presumptive E. coli strains were isolated from the rectal swabs of piglets in swine farms between 4 and 40 days of age with evidence of diarrhea. Presumptive E. coli strains were tested for antibiotic resistance. The hemolytic capacity of presumptive E. coli strains was measured and molecularly identified. Strains confirmed as hemolytic E. coli was evaluated for the presence of five adhesion factors (F4, F5, F6, F18, and F41) and resistance to 11 antibiotics.

Results: Fifty-two putative E. coli strains were isolated, six of which showed a hemolytic capacity. The hemolytic strains were molecularly identified as E. coli. Adhesive fimbriae were found in five of six β-hemolytic E. coli isolates. Combinations of the adhesion factors F6–F18 and F6–F41 were linked to antibiotic resistance capacity.

Conclusion: The phenomenon of E. coli strains resistant to multiple antibiotics on pig farms represents a constant risk factor for public health and pig production. Keywords: adhesive fimbriae, piglet diarrhea, enteroaggregative heat-stable toxin 1, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, hemolytic capacity.

Keywords: adhesive fimbriae, piglet diarrhea, enteroaggregative heat-stable toxin 1, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, hemolytic capacity.

How to cite this article: Pabón-Rodríguez OV, López-López K, Casas-Bedoya GA, Mogollón-Galvis JD, and Serna-Cock L (2023) Adhesion factors and antimicrobial resistance of

Received: 21-12-2022 Accepted: 08-05-2023 Published online: 05-06-2023

Corresponding author: Omar V. Pabón-Rodríguez E-mail: ovpabonro@unal.edu.co

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.1231-1237

Copyright: Pabón-Rodríguez, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.