| Summary: | The objective of this study was to analyze the characteristics that contribute to the successful dissemination of VIM-producing <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> (<i>P. aeruginosa</i>), belonging to ST111 and ST235, in a Greek hospital. A total of 120 non-repetitive <i>P. aeruginosa</i>, which had meropenem minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) greater than 2 mg/L, were studied. VIM-encoding genes were amplified and sequenced within their integrons. Isolates were typed by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Six VIM-producers, representative of different integron structures and sequence types (STs), were completely sequenced using Illumina platform. Sixty-one <i>P. aeruginosa</i> were confirmed to produce VIM-type carbapenemases. ST111 dominated (<i>n</i> = 34) among VIM-producers, while 15 VIM-producers belonged to ST235. The <i>bla</i><sub>VIM</sub>-like genes were located in three integron types, including In59, In595 and In1760, which were integrated into <i>P. aeruginosa</i> chromosomes. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) data demonstrated that ST111 and ST235 MBL producers carried several resistance and virulence genes. Additionally, the presence of type I-C and type I-E clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas locus was observed in ST235 and ST395 isolates, respectively. In conclusion, our findings confirmed the clonal spread of ST111 <i>P. aeruginosa</i>, carrying the VIM-2-encoding integron In59, in the University Hospital of Larissa (UHL). In addition, they highlighted the important role of high-risk clones, ST111 and ST235, in the successful dissemination and establishment into hospital settings of clinically important pathogens carrying resistance determinants.
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