Detection and molecular characterization of sorbitol fermenting non-O157 Escherichia coli from goats

Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) O157 and several other serogroups of non-O157 STEC strains present as commensalism bacteria in small ruminants that possess a high potential of attaining pathogenic virulent genetic elements. The pathogenicity of non-O157 strains is emerging progressively in animals as well as in humans especially in the rural areas as they get transmitted through unsanitary practices of living, consumption of uncooked meat and milk, human-livestock close proximity as well as within livestock pathogenic bacterial transmission. The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of non-O157 E.coli isolates and characterize based on clinical history, antibiotic sensitivity testing, multiplex PCR (mPCR) detection of virulence genes, genotype identification using pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic separation of antigenic proteins to determine their prevalence, virulence and genetic comparison between host and environment for epidemiological significance. A total of 300 E.coli isolates were recovered from rectal swabs of goats and their surrounding environment over a period of one year (2016-2017) by selective isolation. Among which 50 isolates were confirmed to be from the non-O157 E.coli family. The mPCR analysis of these 50 isolates revealed the presence of two or more virulent genes, viz., hylA (90%), fliC (74%), eaeA (56%), stx1 (48%) and stx2 (22%).Four isolates exhibited multidrug-resistance to amoxiclav, doxycycline, ciprofloxacin and ceftriazone. The PFGE fingerprint profile showed six major clusters at 100% similarity from the 50 isolates. The major antigenic proteins identified from the isolates were stx1A, stx2B and fliC. This study has significant implications for understanding the molecular diversity of emerging pathotypes of non-O157 in young goats in terms of virulence and epidemiological aspects.