{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T03:31:03Z","timestamp":1787887863851,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,9]],"date-time":"2025-05-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1746748800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Carbapenem-resistant <jats:italic>Pseudomonas aeruginosa<\/jats:italic> (CRPA) poses a global threat; however, the epidemiological characteristics and clinical significance of <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM<\/jats:sub>-positive CRPA strains in China remain unclear. In this study, continuous surveillance was conducted from 2018 to 2022 in a hospital in Henan Province, China, and the genomic characteristics of <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM<\/jats:sub>-positive CRPA were elucidated. We characterised the genetic features of <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM<\/jats:sub>-positive CRPA isolates by antimicrobial susceptibility testing, conjugation assays, whole-genome sequencing, large-scale comparative genomics, and bioinformatic analyses. Among 628 CRPA isolates, one <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM<\/jats:sub>-positive multidrug-resistant (MDR) strain, PA19-3158 (ST1123), was identified, with the <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM-1<\/jats:sub> gene located on a novel 518,222\u202fbp megaplasmid. Additionally, big data analysis revealed the genomic characteristics of <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM<\/jats:sub>-positive CRPA across China. A total of three different <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM<\/jats:sub> gene variants were identified among these isolates, namely <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM-1<\/jats:sub> (44.12%), <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM-2<\/jats:sub> (52.94%), and <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM-4<\/jats:sub> (2.94%). Our findings identified ST463 as the dominant clone among <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM<\/jats:sub>-positive CRPA in different regions of China, with some <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM<\/jats:sub>-positive CRPA isolates from these regions exhibiting high genetic similarity. Notably, all <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM<\/jats:sub>-positive CRPA isolates carried multiple antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), with approximately 38% co-harboring the carbapenem-resistant gene <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>KPC-2<\/jats:sub> and approximately 47% co-harboring the tigecycline-resistant gene <jats:italic>tmexCD-toprJ<\/jats:italic>. Correlation analysis underscored the significant role of mobile genetic elements in facilitating <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM<\/jats:sub> gene transfer. These results highlight the critical need for continuous surveillance of <jats:italic>bla<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>AFM<\/jats:sub>-positive CRPA in clinical settings to mitigate potential risks.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2025.1546662","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,9]],"date-time":"2025-05-09T05:30:28Z","timestamp":1746768628000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Genomic insights into blaAFM-positive carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in China"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Huimin","family":"Lu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chuanjun","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Buhui","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shangshang","family":"Qin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"402","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2164-12-402","article-title":"BLAST ring image generator (BRIG): simple prokaryote genome comparisons","volume":"12","author":"Alikhan","year":"2011","journal-title":"BMC Genomics"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1089\/cmb.2012.0021","article-title":"SPAdes: a new genome assembly algorithm and its applications to single-cell sequencing","volume":"19","author":"Bankevich","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. 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