ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1578578
This article is part of the Research TopicLeveraging Real-Time Genomic Surveillance to Combat Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial ResistanceView all 5 articles
Genomic insights into five selected multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from
Provisionally accepted
- University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a common environmental organism and the leading cause of opportunistic human diseases. Its inherent tolerance to pharmaceuticals and disinfectants is fundamental to its pathogenicity. This study investigates the genomic characteristics of five multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from Sodwana Bay, South Africa, highlighting resistance profiles and virulence factors. Using Illumina MiSeq sequencing and functional annotation via Prokka, PATRIC and RAST, the analysis revealed significant resistance mechanisms. The isolates clustered with P aeruginosa DSM 50071. The genome sizes for AF, AF1, BIS, BIS1, and BDPW, ranging from 7.0 to 6.4 Mb, were observed, with G+C contents ranging from 66.1% to 66.48%. A de novo multi-drug resistance was observed in all the tested strains, while β-lactamase resistance genes blaPAO, aminoglycoside phosphorylating enzymes genes aph(3')-IIb, fosfomycin resistance gene (fosA), were among the resistance genes found in all samples. The ST analysis revealed the presence of high-risk STs (ST244) in the genomes of both habitats.The blaOXA50 gene linked to high-risk STs, which exhibits increased efficacy against carbapenems, was more common in most genomes. The examination of the virulome revealed that the exoS was more commonly found in most genomes, whereas the exoU was found in only two isolates. This study presents information concerning the genetic heterogeneity among P. aeruginosa strains obtained from various habitats and valuable insights into resistance gene distribution in environmental reservoirs.
Keywords: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, ST244, ST971, whole gene assembly, WGS - whole-genome sequencing, Clinical isolate
Received: 17 Feb 2025; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Serepa-Dlamini, Kondiah, Maumela, Ogofure and Green. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mahloro Hope Serepa-Dlamini, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Kulsum Kondiah, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Ezekiel Green, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.