The impact of quorum sensing and biofilm formation on antimicrobial resistance and virulence of XDR and MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa in laying chickens

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa plays a major influence on poultry outbreaks. Several factors may contribute to its pathogenicity. Aims: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of P. aeruginosa infection among layer chickens with phenotypic and genotypic characterization of the isolates. Methods: Samples (n=160) were collected from respiratory distressed layer chickens according to the lesion and bacteriologically examined for isolation of P. aeruginosa from Sharkia province, Egypt. The antimicrobial sensitivity was performed against 18 antimicrobial agents. A qualitative assessment of biofilm production was performed using the Tube method. The isolates were genetically examined for confirmation, detection of quorum sensing genes, virulence genes, and biofilm production genes by conventional PCR. Results: P. aeruginosa was isolated from 25% of the samples. Moreover, 95% of the isolates were extensively drug-resistant (XDR) with multiple antibiotic resistance indices (MARI) of 0.67 to 0.83. A total of 38 isolates were able to produce biofilm with different degrees. PCR of 16S rRNA (P. aeruginosa) and oprL genes confirmed the existence of P. aeruginosa isolates. For quorum sensing genes, lasI and lasR were successfully amplified at 100% and 89.5%, respectively. For virulence genes, toxA and exoU were amplified by a percentage of 78.9%, while the higBA gene was in 100% of the isolates. pprA and pprB genes were amplified at 100% and 89.5%, respectively. For biofilm genes, pslA, fliC, and pelA were amplified in 100%, 84.2%, and 10.5%, respectively. Conclusion: A strong correlation between quorum sensing genes, biofilm genes, and virulence genes was detected. Further, biofilm production increases the resistance of the isolates to antimicrobial agents.