KPC-3-, GES-5-, and VIM-1-Producing Enterobacterales Isolated from Urban Ponds

Carbapenems are antibiotics of pivotal importance in human medicine, the efficacy of which is threatened by the increasing prevalence of carbapenem-resistant (CRE). Urban ponds may be reservoirs of CRE, although this hypothesis has been poorly explored. We assessed the proportion of CRE in urban ponds over a one-year period and retrieved 23 isolates. These were submitted to BOX-PCR, PFGE, 16S rDNA sequencing, antibiotic susceptibility tests, detection of carbapenemase-encoding genes, and conjugation assays. Isolates were affiliated with ( = 1), ( = 11), ( = 8), and ( = 3). Carbapenemase-encoding genes were detected in 21 isolates: ( = 20), ( = 6), and ( = 1), with 7 isolates carrying two carbapenemase genes. Clonal isolates were collected from different ponds and in different campaigns. F6, N9, and N10 were predicted as pathogens from whole-genome sequence analysis, which also revealed the presence of several resistance genes and mobile genetic elements. We found that was located on Tn b ( F6 and N10) or Tn d ( N9). The former was part of an IncFIA-FII pBK30683-like plasmid. In addition, was in a class 3 integron, either chromosomal ( N9) or plasmidic ( N10). Our findings confirmed the role of urban ponds as reservoirs and dispersal sites for CRE.