The Arginine Deiminase Operon Is Responsible for a Fitness Trade-Off in Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase-Producing Strains of Escherichia coli
Abstract
We previously identified an operon involved in an arginine deiminase (ADI) pathway ( arc operon) on a CTX-M-producing plasmid from an O102-ST405 strain of Escherichia coli . As the ADI pathway was shown to be involved in the virulence of various Gram-positive bacteria, we tested whether the ADI pathway could be involved in the epidemiological success of extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli strains.