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JAC Advance Access published online on June 27, 2006
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, doi:10.1093/jac/dkl267
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received April 7, 2006
Revised May 8, 2006
Accepted June 1, 2006

Brief report

Characterization of defective {beta}-lactamase genes in Yersinia enterocolitica

María Carmen de la Prieta 1, María Victoria Francia 2, Asunción Seoane 1, and Juan M. García Lobo 1 *

1 Departamento de Biología Molecular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain
2 Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla, Santander, Spain

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Juan M. García Lobo, E-mail: jmglobo{at}unican.es


  Abstract

Objectives: To study at the molecular level the heterogeneity of expression of the two chromosomal {beta}-lactamases, BlaA and BlaB, in Yersinia enterocolitica strains isolated from clinical samples.

Methods: MIC determination by the agar dilution method and {beta}-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 {beta}-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 {beta}-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; {beta}-lactams; molecular characterization.
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