Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (11): 4880-4888.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2023.11.042

• RESEARCH NOTES • Previous Articles    

Isolation and Identification of Pigeon-derived Salmonella Typhimurium and Pathogenic Analysis

YANG Menglin1, ZHENG Shiqi1, PENG Kai2, WANG Wei1, HUANG Yanhua1,3*, PENG Jie1*   

  1. 1. Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China;
    2. Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China of Ministry of Agriculture in Rural Affairs/Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China;
    3. Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agricultural, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • Received:2023-02-13 Online:2023-11-23 Published:2023-11-26

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the phylogenetic grouping, drug resistance, virulence and resistance gene carriage and pathogenicity of Salmonella spp. carried by diseased pigeons in a region of Guangdong, and to propose a basis for the prevention and control of Salmonella spp. diseases in the region. In this study, 72 samples of diseased pigeon tissues were isolated, purified and identified. We determined the strain type by 16S rRNA sequencing, serotype identification, and PCR identification of Salmonella typhimurium-specific primers, and detected the drug resistance, resistance gene, and virulence genes of isolated bacteria, and carried out animal pathogenicity tests using mice. We found that the morphology, biochemical indexes, 16S rRNA sequence ratio, serotype identification and specific primer PCR results of the 12 isolates were consistent with the characteristics of Salmonella typhimurium; Resistance results showed that 12 strains were resistant to nalidixic acid and rifampicin, and highly sensitive to trimethoprim, co-trimoxazole, enrofloxacin, florfenicol, ampicillin, and meropenem; We found that 15 drug resistance gene test results showed that 7 strains contained tetA, 5 strains contained sul-11, and other resistance genes were not detected. The results of 17 virulence gene tests showed that the virulence gene carrier rate of 5 strains was 100%, and the virulence gene carrier rate of the remaining strains was also high; In addition, we found that in the animal pathogenicity test, the body weight and feed intake of mice in the experimental group decreased significantly, HE staining observed that the number of liver withered cells increased, the number of jejunal goblet cells decreased, and VH/CD decreased. The 12 strains isolated in this study all belonged to Salmonella typhimurium, all of which showed multi-drug resistance and high virulence gene carrier rate. Animal tests have observed that pathogenic bacteria can cause strong inflammatory damage to animal body organs and are highly pathogenic. We recommend the use of highly sensitive drugs such as trimethoprim for the treatment of salmonellosis in pigeons, or treatment with antibiotic substitutes, regular detection of bacterial resistance, and timely adjustment of treatment regimens.

Key words: Salmonella typhimurium, pigeon, resistance genes, virulence genes, pathogenicity

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