Genetic diversity and antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli from environmental surface water in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

The extended-spectrum β-lactamase gene blaCTX-M-15 was almost ubiquitous in diverse antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from surface water around Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Forty-eight isolates represented 34 multi-locus sequence types and a variety of plasmid replicons were identified in association with blaCTX-M-15 and other resistance genes. This water is likely to be an important source of transmissible antibiotic resistance in Bangladesh.