Leila Ben Said
Tunis University
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Featured researches published by Leila Ben Said.
Meat Science | 2013
Naouel Klibi; Leila Ben Said; Ahlem Jouini; Karim Ben Slama; María López; Rym Ben Sallem; Abdellatif Boudabous; Carmen Torres
Antimicrobial resistance and the mechanisms implicated were studied in 119 enterococci from 105 meat samples from Tunisian markets. Almost 24.5% of recovered enterococci showed resistance against four or more antimicrobial agents and these isolates were identified to the species level. Enterococcus faecalis was the most prevalent species (41%). High percentages of erythromycin and tetracycline resistances were found among our isolates, and lower percentages were identified to aminoglycosides, ciprofloxacin and chloramphenicol. All tetracycline-resistant isolates carried the tet(M) and/or tet(L) genes. The erm(B) gene was detected in 78.5% of erythromycin-resistant isolates, ant(6)-Ia gene in 58.8% of streptomycin-resistant isolates, and cat(A) gene in one chloramphenicol-resistant isolate. Forty-eight isolates carried the gelE gene and exhibited gelatinase activity. The hyl and esp genes were detected in one and three Enterococcus faecium isolates, respectively. Streptomycin-resistant isolates showed a high genetic diversity by PFGE and MLST. Meat might play a role in the spread through the food chain of enterococci with these virulence and resistance characteristics to humans.
Science of The Total Environment | 2016
Leila Ben Said; Ahlem Jouini; Carla Andrea Alonso; Naouel Klibi; Raoudha Dziri; Abdellatif Boudabous; Karim Ben Slama; Carmen Torres
The presence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase and plasmid-mediated AmpC beta-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-Eb and pAmpC-Eb, respectively) was analyzed in 57 wastewater and 57 surface-water samples in Tunisia. Twenty-four of the 57 wastewater samples (42.1%) and one of the 57 surface-water samples (1.7%, a river that received effluents of a wastewater-treatment-plant) contained ESBL-Eb or pAmpC-Eb; one ESBL/pAmpC-Eb per positive sample was further characterized. Beta-lactamase genes detected were as follows: blaCTX-M-1 (10 Escherichia coli),blaCTX-M-15 (eight E. coli, one Klebsiella pneumoniae, one Citrobacter freundii), blaCTX-M-14 (one E. coli) and blaCMY-2 (four E. coli). The blaTEM-1, blaOXA-1 or blaSHV-1 genes were also found in 72% of these isolates. The ISEcp1, orf477 or IS903 sequences were found upstream or downstream of blaCTX-M genes. Class 1 integrons were present in 16 of the 25 ESBL-Eb/pAmpC-Eb strains (64%), and contained five different gene-cassette arrays. Most of the strains (76%) showed a multiresistant phenotype and qnr genes were identified in four strains. Molecular typing of ESBL/CMY-2-producing E. coli isolates showed 23 different PFGE-patterns and 15 different sequence-types (ST10, ST46, ST48, ST58, ST69, ST101, ST117, ST131, ST141, ST288, ST359, ST399, ST405, ST617, and the new ST4530); these strains were ascribed to phylogroups A (11 isolates), B1 (3 isolates), D (6 isolates) and B2 (3 isolates). From one to five plasmids were detected in each strain (size from 30kb to >240kb) and ESBL or pAmpC genes were transferred by conjugation in 69.5% of the E. coli strains. In conclusion, ESBL-Eb and pAmpC-Eb strains are frequently detected in wastewater samples and they might be a source for dissemination in other environments with repercussion in public health.
Annals of Microbiology | 2017
Leila Ben Said; Mouna Hamdaoui; Amira Klibi; Karim Ben Slama; Carmen Torres; Naouel Klibi
The purpose of this study was to analyse the antibiotic resistance and virulence of enterococci recovered from seafood and to characterise the associated genes. Forty-four enterococcal isolates [Enterococcus faecalis (21), E. faecium (11), E. casseliflavus (5), E. durans (3), E. hirae (2), E. gallinarum (1) and E. mundtii (1)] were recovered from 70 samples of seafood collected during March–May 2015 in Tunisia. Isolates were tested for antibiotic resistance to 12 antibiotics by the disc diffusion method. Rates of resistance in the range 25–45.5% were observed for pristinamycin, ciprofloxacin, streptomycin, tetracycline and erythromycin, and in the range 6.8–9.1% for kanamycin, gentamicin and chloramphenicol. However, all strains showed susceptibility to β-lactams and glycopeptides. Multi-resistance to at least three different classes of antibiotics was detected in 14 strains (31.8%). Among 12 tetracycline-resistant enterococci, tet(M) was detected in 11 isolates and tet(L) in seven isolates. The erm(B) gene was identified in 91% of erythromycin-resistant isolates. All chloramphenicol-resistant isolates carried the cat gene, and all kanamycin-resistant isolates harboured the aph(3)-IIIa gene. The aac(6′)-aph(2″) and ant(6)-Ia genes were detected in high-level gentamicin- and streptomycin-resistant isolates, respectively. The virulence genes gelE (29.5%), esp (9.1%), cylA and cylB (9.1%) were found in enterococci. This is the first study in Tunisia to underscore the importance of seafood as a reservoir of enterococci carrying resistance and virulence genes.
Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease | 2016
Raoudha Dziri; Naouel Klibi; Carla Andrea Alonso; Leila Ben Said; Ridha Bellaaj; Karim Ben Slama; Abdellatif Boudabous; Carmen Torres
The assessment of the hospital environment as a reservoir of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in Tunisian hospitals is scarcely analyzed, except for Escherichia coli. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of ESBL-producing non-E. coli Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-EbNoEc) in 300 samples of abiotic surfaces and the hands of patients and staff of a Tunisian Hospital, and to characterize the ESBL genes of the recovered isolates. ESBL-EbNoEc were recovered in 28 of 300 (9.3%) analyzed samples and were identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae (n= 11), Enterobacter cloacae (n=11), Citrobacter freundii (n=4) and Klebsiella oxytoca (n=2). The bla genes identified by PCR and sequencing among the strains were as follows: 11 K.pneumoniae strains [blaCTX-M-15+ blaTEM-1+ blaSHV-11 (n=6); blaCTX-M-15+ blaTEM-1+ blaSHV-28 (n=3); blaCTX-M-15+ blaTEM-1+ blaSHV-1 (n=2)], 11 E. cloacae strains [blaCTX-M-15 (n=6); blaCTX-M-15+ blaTEM-1b (n=2); blaCTX-M-15+ blaTEM-1b+ blaOXA-1 (n=1);blaCTX-M-15+ blaOXA-1 (n=1);blaSHV-12 (n=1)], 4 C. freundii strains [blaCTX-M-15] and 2 K. oxytoca strains [blaCTX-M-15 (n=1); blaSHV-12 (n=1)]. The ISEcp1 and orf477 sequences were identified upstream and downstream of the blaCTX-M-15 gene, respectively, in 3 K. pneumoniae and 3 E. cloacae isolates. The PFGE analysis demonstrated three unrelated pulsotypes in K. pneumoniae strains and five pulsotypes in E. cloacae. The uncontrolled dissemination of ESBL-producing bacteria, even in the hospital environment, has become a real problem and new strategies and hygienic rules are needed to stop this bacterial dissemination.
International Journal of Food Microbiology | 2015
Leila Ben Said; Ahlem Jouini; Naouel Klibi; Raoudha Dziri; Carla Andrea Alonso; Abdellatif Boudabous; Karim Ben Slama; Carmen Torres
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture | 2016
Leila Ben Said; Naouel Klibi; Raoudha Dziri; Francesca Borgo; Abdellatif Boudabous; Karim Ben Slama; Carmen Torres
Annals of Microbiology | 2015
Naouel Klibi; Rim Aouini; Francesca Borgo; Leila Ben Said; Chiara Ferrario; Raoudha Dziri; Abdellatif Boudabous; Carmen Torres; Karim Ben Slama
European Journal of Wildlife Research | 2015
Naouel Klibi; Insaf Ben Amor; Marwa Rahmouni; Raoudha Dziri; Gtari Douja; Leila Ben Said; Carmen Lozano; Abdellatif Boudabous; Karim Ben Slama; Riadh Mansouri; Carmen Torres
Science of The Total Environment | 2015
Leila Ben Said; Naouel Klibi; Carmen Lozano; Raoudha Dziri; Karim Ben Slama; Abdellatif Boudabous; Carmen Torres
Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease | 2016
Raoudha Dziri; Naouel Klibi; Carmen Lozano; Leila Ben Said; Ridha Bellaaj; Carmen Tenorio; Abdellatif Boudabous; Karim Ben Slama; Carmen Torres