JAC Advance Access originally published online on June 27, 2006
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2006 58(3):661-664; doi:10.1093/jac/dkl267
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Characterization of defective ß-lactamase genes in Yersinia enterocolitica
1 Departamento de Biología Molecular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Cantabria Santander, Spain 2 Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla Santander, Spain
Received 7 April 2006; returned 3 May 2006; revised 8 May 2006; accepted 1 June 2006
*Corresponding author. Tel: +34-942-201948; Fax +34-942-201945; E-mail: jmglobo{at}unican.es
Objectives: To study at the molecular level the heterogeneity of expression of the two chromosomal ß-lactamases, BlaA and BlaB, in Yersinia enterocolitica strains isolated from clinical samples.
Methods: MIC determination by the agar dilution method and ß-lactamase assays was performed to determine the resistance level conferred by these enzymes. DNA cloning, PCR and direct sequencing were used to detect the presence of mutations.
Results: The blaA allele from strain IP97 (blaA97) was found to carry a deletion of 51 bp which entirely abolished its ß-lactamase activity. Both the ampR gene and the promoter region of strain Y56 were shown to be functional by a gene swapping experiment. The blaB allele from strain Y56 was found to carry two point mutations, only one of them resulting in a change in the amino acid sequence of the protein. This single amino acid change created a practically inactive BlaB or AmpC cephalosporinase in Y. enterocolitica Y56.
Conclusions: The lack of activity observed in the ß-lactamases of some Y. enterocolitica isolates was due to the presence of point mutations or small deletions in the corresponding genes.
Keywords: Y. enterocolitica , resistance mechanisms , ß-lactams , molecular characterization