Among the Gram-negative pathogens, Escherichia coli(E. coli) is the main cause of nosocomial infections. As a result of antibiotic therapies, resistance develops, in E. coli mainly against beta-lactam antibiotics such as penicillins and cephalosporins (ESBL producers). This work describes the molecular genetic causes that contribute to the dissemination of cephalosporin resistance genes, blaCTX-M. Based on a collection of E. coli isolates from nosocomial infections, it could be shown that in addition to clonal spread of cephalosporin-resistant E. coli strains also...