Investigation of virulence factor genes and biofilm formation of antibiotic resistant clinical E.coli isolates

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the antibiotic sensitivity, presence of virulence genes and biofilm formation capacity of 90 clinical E. coli isolates. Methods: The presence of virulence genes in E. coli isolates were investigated by PCR. Ninety clinical isolates of E. coli were subjected to biofilm quantitative analysis using the semi-quantitative crystal violet staining method. Results: it was observed that the isolates were resistant to quinolone, cephalosporin, aminoglycoside, carbapenem and penicillin group antibiotics. The presence of virulence factor genes were observed in a total of 86/90 E. coli. The highest rate of fim (92.2 %) virulence factor gene was detected in the strains. Afa, pap, cnf, sfa, hly were detected in 30 %, 13 %, 13 %, 3.3 %, 2.2 % respectively. Also, 13 different virulence factor gene patterns were determined in 90 E. coli isolates. Of the 90 E. coli isolates whose biofilm-forming capacities were evaluated, 42 were found to have biofilm-forming capacity. Of these 26 (28.8 %) the weak, 12 (13.3 %) moderate and 4 (4.4 %) strong biofilm-forming. Also, statistical analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between virulence factor genes and biofilm formation, and none of the 7 genes analyzed showed a significant relationship with biofilm formation. Conclusion: since pathogenic E. coli is an important public health problem, investigating antibiotic resistance, virulence factor genes and biofilm formation in bacterial pathogens is important for better treatment options.