Natural antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and biochemical identification of Escherichia albertii and Hafnia alvei strains

Bangladeshi diarrheagenic Hafnia alvei-like strains have been described recently as the new species Escherichia albertii (Int J Syst Evolut Microbiol. 2003;53:807-810). The natural susceptibility of 21 E. albertii and 76 H. alvei strains to 69 antimicrobial agents was examined, applying a microdilution procedure in IsoSensitest broth (for all the strains) and cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth (for some strains). Examining the phenotypic features of both taxa with commercial identification systems and conventional tests, a database for an accurate biochemical separation of E. albertii from H. alvei was also established. Both taxa were naturally sensitive or sensitive and of intermediate susceptibility to aminoglycosides, acylureidopenicillins, ticarcillin, several cephalosporins, carbapenems, aztreonam, quinolones, folate pathway inhibitors, and nitrofurantoin. They were naturally resistant to tetracycline, penicillin G, oxacillin, all macrolides except for azithromycin, lincosamides, streptogramins, glycopeptides, rifampicin, and fusidic acid. Taxon-related differences in natural susceptibility affecting clinical assessment criteria were seen with doxycycline, minocycline, aminopenicillins, some cephalosporins, azithromycin, and fosfomycin. E. albertii was more susceptible than H. alvei to these agents and was naturally sensitive to all β-lactams (except for penicillin G and oxacillin), azithromycin, and fosfomycin. H. alvei was naturally resistant or of intermediate susceptibility to all tetracyclines, amoxicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, ampicillin-sulbactam, narrow-spectrum cephalosporins, azithromycin, and fosfomycin. Motile malonate-negative Hafnia strains (indicating genospecies 2 of the H. alvei complex) were less susceptible to some cephalosporins than nonmotile, malonate-positive hafniae (indicating genospecies 1). Proline deaminase, hydroxyproline amidase, tripeptidase, chitinase, Voges-Proskauer reaction, and assimilation of histidine as well as acid production from glycerol, rhamnose, and xylose were suitable tests to separate strains of E. albertii from those of the H. alvei complex. Although out of the scope of this study, it should be noted that several strains of E. albertii showed acquired resistances to some penicillins and antifolates.