Primers, assays and methods for detecting an

1. A method of detecting the presence of Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) in a sample, comprising detecting the presence of an allelic combination of gyrA1AB/parC1aAB, wherein detection of the allelic combination confirms the presence of ST131 in the sample and the absence of the allelic combination indicates the absence of ST131 in the sample.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ST131 is subclone H30-R or subclone H30-Rx.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising sequencing an allele 30 of a fimH gene in the sample to confirm the presence of subclone H30-R or subclone H30-Rx.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein sequencing the fimH gene comprises PCR amplification of the fimH gene with at least one primer selected from the group consisting of a primer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, a primer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, a primer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5, a primer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7, a primer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8, a primer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9, and a primer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein detecting the presence of the allelic combination of gyrA1AB/parC1aAB comprises sequencing gyrA and parC genes in the sample.

6. A method of detecting the presence of E. coli sequence type 131 (ST131) subclone H30-Rx in a sample comprising detecting the presence of an allelic combination of fimH30, mdh36, and gyrB47, wherein detection of the allelic combination confirms the presence of H30-Rx in the sample and the absence of the allelic combination indicates the absence of H30-Rx in the sample.

7. The method of a claim 6 , wherein detection of the allelic combination comprises PCR amplification of fimH30 with primers comprising the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO: 1 and SEQ ID NO: 2, PCR amplification of mdh36 with primers comprising the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO: 15 and SEQ ID NO: 16, and PCR amplification of gyrB47 with primers comprising the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO: 17 and SEQ ID NO: 18.

8. A method of detecting the presence of a CTX-M-15-associated E. coli subclone H30-Rx within a population of H30 subclones in a sample comprising detecting single nucleotide polymorphism 200 (SNP-200) and single nucleotide polymorphism 264 (SNP-264) in a fimH30 gene, wherein the presence of both SNP-200 and SNP-264 confirms the presence of H30-Rx.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein SNP-200 is a C-to-T transition at position 299 of a 460-bp PCR product generated using a forward primer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 57 and reverse primer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 58 and wherein SNP-264 is a G-to-A transition at position 287 of a 462-bp PCR product generated using a forward primer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 59 and reverse primer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 60.

10. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising detecting single nucleotide polymorphism 3729 (SNP-3729), wherein the presence of SNP-3729 confirms the presence of H30-Rx.

11. The method according to claim 6 , wherein H30-Rx is fluoroquinolone-resistant (FQ-R), blaCTX-M-15-positive, and associated with sepsis in human subjects.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample is a biological sample from a human subject between newborn and 10-years-old or 50-years-old and older.

13. A method of treating a subject with a bacterial infection comprising:

a) detecting the presence of an E. coli ST131 subclone H30 or an E. coli subclone H30-Rx according to the method of claim 1 in a sample from the subject; and

b) treating the subject with an antimicrobial agent that is not fluoroquinolone (FQ), gentamicin, or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX).

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

c) treating the subject with an antimicrobial agent selected from the group consisting of nitrofurantoin, fosfomycin, carbapenem, colistin, tigecycline, and amikacin.

15. A method of identifying the presence of E. coli H30-R and/or H30-Rx, comprising:

providing DNA from an E. coli sample; and

detecting in the DNA from the E. coli sample whether the DNA has one or more single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) selected from the group consisting of SNP3446, SNP3500, SNP4907, and SNP10603, wherein detection of one or more of the SNPs indicating the presence of E. coli H30-R and/or H30-Rx in the E. coli sample; or selected from the group consisting of one or more single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) selected from the group consisting of SNP200, SNP264, and SNP3729, wherein detection of one or more of the SNPs indicating the presence of E. coli H30-Rx in the E. coli sample.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

detecting in the DNA from the E. coli sample whether the DNA has an SNP of G723A in an allantoin protein-encoding ybbW gene, wherein detection of the SNP of G723Ain ybbW indicating the presence of E. coli H30-Rx in the E. coli sample and the SNP is detected with PCR amplification of the ybbW gene using primers comprising the sequences of SEQ ID NO: 63 and/or SEQ ID NO: 64.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein a primer or probe comprising a labeled nucleic acid sequence having a nucleic acid sequence consisting of any one of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 8, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 15, SEQ ID NO: 16, SEQ ID NO: 17, SEQ ID NO: 18, NO: 57, SEQ ID NO: 58, SEQ ID NO: 59, SEQ ID NO: 60, SEQ ID NO: 63, SEQ ID NO: 64, a labeled fragment or derivative thereof, a labeled complementary sequence thereof, wherein the sequences have at least 90% nucleic acid sequence identity thereto is used to confirm the presence of E. coli H30-R and/or H30-Rx in the sample.