Isolation and molecular characterization of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli from poultry samples

Innumerable foodborne pathogens including Salmonella and Escherichia coli pose a serious threat to human health and food safety. As perishable foods, poultry products are considered one of the most common sources of foodborne pathogens including Salmonella and E. coli due to transmission of drug resistance, dissemination of organisms, and cross-contamination. In our study, phenotypic and genotypic characterizations of Salmonella enterica and E. coli isolated from packaged raw chicken products were carried out. Samples belonging to different commercial brands were collected in Ankara in 2015. Among 15 out of 19 Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica strains isolated from different and/or same poultry samples were found as Infantis serotype, while 4 of them were identified as Enteritidis serotype by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) footprints. In addition, 19 out of 40 samples gave positive results for E. coli. In addition, PFGE types of Salmonella Infantis isolates were detected as PT 08, 45, and 50. Furthermore, multilocus sequence typing types of the samples were identified as ST 32. Results of the phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial resistance profiles of Salmonella Infantis and E. coli isolates revealed considerable resistance to nalidixic acid, tetracycline, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. On the other hand, 3 E. coli isolates showed antibiotic susceptibility. All in all, this study might enlighten some molecular features of Salmonella and E. coli isolated from chicken products in Turkey.