Co-occurrence of Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence Genes on Diverse Mobilomes in Dairy Farm Waste Escherichia coli: a Genomic Analysis

Dairy farms waste carries multiple bacterial species particularly Escherichia coli, a potential reservoir and disseminator of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence genes (VGs) through mobilomes.We performed whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis on 64 multidrug-resistant E. coli isolates from dairy farm waste in Gansu, China, to characterize and predict the cooccurrence of ARGs and VGs on mobilomes.Bioinformatics analysis revealed that key ARGs (sul2, rmtB, blaTEM-1) and VGs (traT, iutA) were predominantly plasmidassociated.Notably, a single Tn2 transposon carrying co-localized blaTEM-1 (ARG) and clpK (VG) is direct evidence of convergence on mobile element.Prophage regions and genomic islands were also rich reservoirs, with ompT (VG) and emrE (ARG) found in 62.5% and 45.3% of isolates, respectively, within the prophage regions.Similarly, fimH (VG) and rsmA (ARG) genes were predominantly identified in 64.1% and 48.4% isolates within the genomic island regions.The convergence of ARGs and VGs associated on diverse mobilomes indicate their potential of dissemination within and between the bacterial pathogens of animal and human significance.Further, our findings highlight the urgent application of integrated One Health policies to mitigate the potential risks.