investigation of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of escherichia coli strains causing urinary tract infection with inca/c plasmid

Urinary tract infection (uti) is one of the most common hospital infections. the main cause of uti is uropathogenic escherichia coli (upec). the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes through plasmids is the most important factor in the spread of antibiotic resistance in gram-negative bacteria, including e. coli. a total of 204 e. coli isolates causing utis were investigated for the presence of inca/c plasmid. then, their phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, including the virulence profile, the presence of resistance genes such as metallo beta lactamase, carbapenemase, and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes were investigated. also the antibiotic resistance pattern of the isolates, the ability of biofilm production, hemolysis, resistance to serum, the association of other plasmids and their phylogenetic group were investigated. out of 5 isolates with inca/c plasmid, one isolate was resistant to all antibiotics. two isolates had moderate biofilm and the rest had weak biofilm. the results of the serum resistance showed that all studied samples were serum resistant. also, hemolysis was observed in an isolate. examining the virulence profile of isolates showed that one isolate has the highest amount of virulence genes including pai, fimh, papc, trat, papg allele ii, papg ii, ш, iuta , and fyua. all isolates with inca/c carried the blactx-15. blandm gene was observed in all isolates with inca/c plasmid. according to the results of this study, probably many resistance genes are carried by inca/c plasmids, and these plasmids play an important role in spreading resistance among bacteria.