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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Sep 1997, 2365-2369, Vol 35, No. 9
Y Liu, BJ Mee and L Mulgrave
In a collection of 43 indole-positive Klebsiella clinical isolates, which
were initially identified as Klebsiella oxytoca, there were 18 isolates
which exhibited a pattern characteristic of extended-spectrum
beta-lactamase (ESBL) resistance. This study aimed to confirm their
identity by biochemical tests and by PCR and to determine the genetic basis
for their resistance to the beta-lactams and broad-spectrum cephalosporins.
Chromosomal beta-lactamase genes were analyzed by PCR, and plasmid-mediated
beta-lactamase genes were analyzed by conjugation and transformation. There
were 39 isolates which grew on melezitose but failed to grow on
3-hydroxybutyrate, confirming them as K. oxytoca. PCR analysis of their
beta-lactamase genes divided these isolates into two groups, the bla(OXY-1)
group and the bla(OXY-2) group. Each group had beta-lactamases with
different isoelectric points; the bla(OXY-1) group had beta-lactamases with
isoelectric points at 7.2, 7.8, 8.2, and 8.8, and the more common
bla(OXY-2) group had beta-lactamases with pIs at 5.2, 5.4 (TEM-1), 5.7,
5.9, 6.4, and 6.8. A pI of 5.2 was the most frequently detected and
accounted for 59% of all the bla(OXY-2) beta- lactamases. Hyperproduction
of clavulanate-inhibited chromosomal beta- lactamases was detected in 17 K.
oxytoca isolates, resulting in an ESBL phenotype. K. oxytoca isolates
having a plasmid-mediated genetic basis for their ESBL phenotype were not
found, confirming that, in K. oxytoca, plasmids are rarely involved in
conferring resistance to the newer cephalosporins. Four isolates proved to
be isolates of K. planticola in which the beta-lactamase genes failed to
react with the primers used in the PCR. One K. planticola isolate contained
a transferable plasmid harboring the SHV-5 beta-lactamase gene and showed
an ESBL phenotype, while the other non-ESBL K. planticola isolates
contained chromosomal beta-lactamases with isoelectric points at 7.2, 7.7,
and 7.9 plus 7.2.
Copyright © 1997 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identification of clinical isolates of indole-positive Klebsiella spp., including Klebsiella planticola, and a genetic and molecular analysis of their beta-lactamases
Department of Microbiology, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands.
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