Aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes in clinical isolates ofAcinetobacter calcoaceticus

Spread of amikacin resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii strains isolated in Spain due to an epidemic strain

Sixteen amikacin-resistant clinical Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from nine different hospitals in Spain were investigated to determine whether the high incidence of amikacin-resistant A. baumannii was due to the dissemination of an amikacin-resistant strain or to the spread of an amikacin resistance gene. The epidemiological relationship studied by repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR and low-frequency restriction analysis of chromosomal DNA showed that the same clone was isolated in eight of nine hospitals, although other clones were also found. The strains were studied for the presence of the aph(3')-VIa and aac(6')-I genes, which encode enzymes which inactivate amikacin, by PCR. All 16 clinical isolates had positive PCRs with primers specific for the amplification of the aph(3')-VIa gene, whereas none had a positive reaction for the amplification of the aac(6')-I gene. Therefore, the high incidence of amikacin resistance among clinical A. baumannii isolates in Spain was mainly due to an epidemic strain, although the spread of the aph(3')-VI gene cannot be ruled out.

Transferable plasmid-mediated antibiotic resistance in Acinetobacter

Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strain BM2500 was resistant to ampicillin, aminoglycoside-aminocyclitols, chloramphenicol, sulfonamides, and high levels of trimethoprim. Resistance to ampicillin was due to the presence of a beta-lactamase (TEM-1) and the aminoglycoside-aminocyclitol resistance was mediated by phosphotransferase (APH(3')(5")I) and adenylyltransferase (AAD(3)(9] activities. The resistance genes were carried by a 167 kilobase plasmid, pIP1031, belonging to incompatibility group 6-C; the plasmid was self-transferable, at extremely low frequency, to Escherichia coli by conjugation. Plasmid pIP1031 DNA was analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis following restriction endonuclease digestion, by nucleic acid hybridization, and by CsCl analytical density gradient ultracentrifugation. The results support the hypothesis that plasmid pIP1031 may have been acquired recently by strain BM2500.