Pulsed field, ribotype and integron analysis of multidrug resistant isolates of Salmonella enterica serovar Newport

Twenty-one isolates of Salmonella enterica serovar Newport were evaluated for their antimicrobial resistance, pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profiles, ribotype profiles, and their integron profiles. Antimicrobial resistance profiles indicated that 20 of the 21 isolates were resistant to the following antibiotics: amoxicillin–clavulanic acid (AMOX/CA), ampicillin (AMPC), cefoxitin (CFOX), ceftiofur (TIO), cephalothin (CRIN), chloramphenicol (CHL), streptomycin (STR), tetracycline (TET), and sulfamethoxazole (SMX). Five isolates showed resistance to gentamycin (GEN) and kanamycin (KAN). Trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (SMX/TMP) resistance was observed in six isolates. Eight of the twenty one isolates showed intermediate resistance to ceftriaxone (CTRX), with one isolate exhibiting complete resistance. PFGE clearly resolved the Salmonella Newport isolates into nine distinct clusters, and a good congruence was observed between PFGE and antibiotic resistance patterns. Automated riboprinting clearly distinguished between antibiotic resistant and sensitive strains of Salmonella Newport, and resolved the isolates into two ribogroups. One group consisted of the multidrug resistant isolates, and the other grouping contained the sensitive isolate. Three different integrons (1.0, 1.2, and 1.8 kb) were observed in many of the isolates, and several isolates contained more than one integron. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) indicated that integrons of the same size were indistinguishable.When integron analysis and ribotype analysis were used in conjunction, four subtypes of multidrug resistant Salmonella Newport isolates were clearly defined. These results demonstrate the possibility of utilizing automated ribotyping and integron analysis to rapidly subtype multidrug resistant Salmonella Newport isolates.