Title
Genetic diversity of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli in ICU settings
Authors
Aparna Aparajita*, Manoj Kumar & Ashok Kumar Sharma
Affiliation
Department of Microbiology, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi, Jharkhand, India; *Corresponding author
Aparna Aparajita - E-mail: draparna812@gmail.com
Manoj Kumar - E-mail: manoj_drmicro@rediffmail.com
Ashok Kumar Sharma - E-mail: aksharmarims@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received May 1, 2026; Revised May 31, 2026; Accepted May 31, 2026, Published May 31, 2026
Abstract
Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) -producing Escherichia coli pose a major threat in ICU settings due to rising multidrug resistance and limited data on their genetic diversity. Therefore, it is of interest to analyze the molecular epidemiology of 186 non-duplicate ESBL-producing E. coli isolates from ICU patients over 12 months using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for ESBL genes, phylogenetic grouping, Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The blaCTX-M gene family was predominant (82.3%), with blaCTX-M-15 as the most common variant and 41.9% of isolates carried multiple ESBL genes. Phylogenetic group B2 and high-risk clones such as ST131, ST405 and ST648 were most prevalent, with high co-resistance to multiple antibiotic classes. Thus, we show significant genetic diversity and dominance of high-risk clones, emphasizing the need for molecular surveillance and targeted infection control strategies.
Keywords
Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL), Escherichia coli, genetic characterisation, intensive care unit (ICU), CTX-M, multilocus sequence typing
Citation
Aparajita et al. Bioinformation 22(5): 2724-2730 (2026)
Edited by
Hiroj Bagde
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
