Complete Sequence of Four Multidrug-Resistant MOBQ1 Plasmids Harboring blaGES-5 Isolated from Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens Persisting in a Hospital in Canada

The usefulness of carbapenems for gram-negative infections is becoming compromised by organisms harboring carbapenemases, enzymes which can hydrolyze the drug. Currently KPC (class A), NDM (class B), and OXA-48 types (class D) are the most globally widespread carbapenemases. However, among the GES-type class A extended-spectrum -lactamases (ESBLs) there are variants that hydrolyze carbapenems, with bla(GES-5) being the most common. Two Escherichia coli and two Serratia marcescens harboring bla(GES-5) on plasmids were isolated by the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP) from four different patients in a single hospital over a 2-year period. Complete sequencing of the bla(GES-5) plasmids indicated that all four had nearly identical backbones consisting of genes for replication, partitioning, and stability, but contained variant accessory regions consisting of mobile elements and antimicrobial resistance genes. The plasmids were of a novel replicon type, but belonged to the MOBQ1 group based on relaxase sequences, and appeared to be mobilizable, but not self-transmissible. Considering the time periods of bacterial isolation, it would appear the bla(GES-5) plasmid has persisted in an environmental niche for at least 2 years in the hospital. This has implications for infection control and clinical care when it is transferred to clinically relevant gram-negative organisms.