Characterization of the extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli ST131 clone among isolates recovered from urinary and bloodstream infections in the United Kingdom

The multidrug-resistant ST131-O25b clone of Escherichia coli is well established as a significant cause of extra-intestinal infections worldwide. However, there have been only two small regional studies comparing ST131 isolates from the UK. Therefore, we characterized 143 ST131 E. coli (38 urinary, 105 bloodstream) collected between January 2011 and March 2012 from 38 centres located across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of clonal isolates revealed high rates of resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanate (56 %), cefotaxime (32 %), ciprofloxacin (79 %), temocillin (69 %, bloodstream isolates only), gentamicin (67 %) and trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (59 %). The most frequently detected extended-spectrum beta-lactamase was CTX-M-15 (87 %), predominantly encoded on IncF plasmids, although it was also associated with IncU plasmids in two isolates. The majority of UK ST131 clonal isolates possessed the O25b antigen (97 %) and the H30 fimH allele (92 %), but three serogroups (O19a, O136 and O153) novel to ST131 were identified among our strains. Contrary to previous reports, UK ST131-O16 isolates were typically susceptible to ciprofloxacin and lacked beta-lactamase genes (n=12/12). In summary, ST131 strains of E. coli circulating in the UK possess characteristic clonal features, but are becoming more diverse than other international ST131 populations.