Isolation, phylogenetic group, drug resistance, biofilm formation, and adherence genes of Escherichia coli from poultry in central China

The isolation and identification, genetic typing, antibiotic sensitivity, and biofilm formation of avian Escherichia coli in central China was studied. A total of 256 isolates of E. coli were obtained, and classified into groups: A (50.78%, 130/256), B1 (11.72%, 30/256), B2 (17.58%, 45/256), and D (19.92%, 51/256). Drug susceptibility testing revealed that the strains showed a high drug resistance rate against penicillin, aztreonam, rifampicin, kanamycin, clindamycin, and gentamicin, with 92.19% of strains exhibiting multidrug resistance. A biofilm assay revealed that 81.64% of isolates could form biofilms. Of the total isolates, 25.39% of isolates showed strong biofilm-formation ability, 31.25% showed moderate biofilm-formation ability, 28.90% showed weak biofilm-formation ability, and 18.36% were unable to form biofilms. Most adhesion-associated genes were distributed among 5 or 8 genes in strong biofilm-forming ability isolates. However, adhesion-associated genes distributed among 1 or 4 genes were found in weak biofilm-forming ability isolates and non-ability isolates. The results showed a high drug resistance rate and biofilm formation ability in E. coli strains isolated from poultry. The isolates which have strong biofilm-forming ability were mostly belong to pathogenic E. coli (B2, D). Furthermore, it was the first report to demonstrate a positive correlation between adhesion-encoding genes and biofilms phenotype.