Horizontal gene transfer of blaCTX-M among E. coli isolates from children and domestic animals in a semirural community of Ecuador.. Escherichia coli

We characterize ESBL-producing E. coli isolates to assess the contribution of horizontal gene transfer of the blaCTX-M allelic variants among E. coli isolates from children and domestic animals in a semirural community of Ecuador. We identified 16 plasmids carrying blaCTX-M-55 (n= 9), blaCTX-M-65 (n= 5), blaCTX-M-27 (n= 2) and 4 blaCTX-M-65 carried in chromosomes. The backbone structure of plasmids and the synteny was conserved in all plasmids carrying the same blaCTX-M allelic variant, and in all plasmids and chromosomes, the blaCTX-M genes were bracketed by 2 IS26 transposable elements.