The Darkest Place Is under the Candlestick-Healthy Urogenital Tract as a Source of Worldwide Disseminated Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli Lineages

Abstract

Since the discovery of the urinary microbiome, including the identification of Escherichia coli in healthy hosts, its involvement in UTI development has been a subject of high interest. We explored the population diversity and antimicrobial resistance of E. coli (n = 22) in the urogenital microbiome of ten asymptomatic women (representing 50% of the sample tested). We evaluated their genomic relationship with extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) strains from healthy and diseased hosts, including the ST131 lineage. E. coli prevalence was higher in vaginal samples than in urine samples, and occasionally different lineages were observed in the same individual. Furthermore, B2 was the most frequent phylogenetic group, with the most strains classified as ExPEC. Resistance to antibiotics of therapeutic relevance (e.g., amoxicillin-clavulanate conferred by blaTEM-30) was observed in ExPEC widespread lineages sequence types (ST) 127, ST131, and ST73 and ST95 clonal complexes. Phylogenomics of ST131 and other ExPEC lineages revealed close relatedness with strains from gastrointestinal tract and diseased host. These findings demonstrate that healthy urogenital microbiome is a source of potentially pathogenic and antibiotic resistant E. coli strains, including those causing UTI, e.g., ST131. Importantly, diverse E. coli lineages can be observed per individual and urogenital sample type which is relevant for future studies screening for this uropathogen.