en تخصصي Special Short communication Short communication <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><strong>Background:</strong> Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem with enormous public health and economic impact. This study was carried out to get an overview of acquired antimicrobial resistance gene sequences in the genomes of <em>Escherichia coli</em> isolated from different food sources and the environment in Nigeria.<br> <strong>Methods:</strong> To determine the acquired antimicrobial-resistant genes prevalence, genome assemblies of 272 isolates were analyzed <em>In silico </em>with KmerResistance 2.2 software.<br> <strong>Results:</strong> A total of 107 antimicrobial resistance genes, which included genes that encode for 24 extended-spectrum beta-lactamases were detected. Potential multidrug resistance was found in 90% of the genomes analyzed. All strains analyzed contained at least one resistant gene sequence and had high similarity or homology (95% ID and above). Two strains harboured over 30 sequences of antimicrobial resistant genes, and in 24 strains over 20 genes were detected. &nbsp;<br> <strong>Conclusion:</strong> The resistant genes found in all the genomes analyzed were acquired intra-species and not inter-species. This provides an opportunity for further studies of the orthologous nature of the genes detected and the data obtained can help monitor the epidemiology of <em>E.coli</em> resistant genes in the food and environment.<br> <br> <strong>DOI:</strong>&nbsp;10.18502/jfqhc.8.4.8260</span></span></div> Escherichia coli, Beta-Lactamases, Drug Resistance, Microbial, Genome, Nigeria 186 189 http://jfqhc.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1342-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 O. Nwaiwu ogueri.nwaiwu@nottingham.ac.uk 0000-0003-0794-0866 Yes School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, LE12 5RD, United Kingdom H. Onyeaka No School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK