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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2003, p. 2855-2861, Vol. 41, No. 7
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.7.2855-2861.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization of Two Penicillin-Susceptible Serotype 6B Streptococcus pneumoniae Clones Circulating in Italy

Giovanni Gherardi,1 Maria Del Grosso,2 Anna Scotto d'Abusco,2,{dagger} Fabio D'Ambrosio,2 Giordano Dicuonzo,1 and Annalisa Pantosti2*

Dipartimento di Medicina di Laboratorio e Microbiologia, Università Campus Biomedico,1 Laboratorio di Batteriologia e Micologia Medica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy2

Received 25 November 2002/ Returned for modification 3 March 2003/ Accepted 11 April 2003

Twenty-nine penicillin-susceptible serotype 6B strains isolated from patients with invasive diseases and from healthy carriers were examined by different genotyping methods. Ten groups were identified on the basis of the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profiles, and two of these contained multiple isolates and were analyzed further. PFGE group 1 comprised 12 isolates, the majority of which had a multiresistant phenotype (resistance to erythromycin, clindamycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole), corresponding to that of a clone previously described in the Mediterranean area and related to penicillin-resistant clone Spain6B-2. The pbp2b, pbp2x, dhf, and pspA genes of the isolates had identical restriction profiles; and the partial sequence of pspA was identical to that of clone Spain6B-2. In all isolates the resistance determinants erm(B) and tet(M) were inserted in a Tn1545-like element; 11 isolates carried cat as part of the integrated plasmid pC194. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) performed with two isolates confirmed that their profiles corresponded to that of the Mediterranean clone. PFGE group 2 comprised nine strains, of which the majority showed no antibiotic resistance. Their pspA profiles were different, and the partial sequences obtained for two representative isolates indicated the presence of PspA proteins of different clades. The MLST profile of one strain was identical to that of a serotype 6B strain from the United Kingdom, while two other isolates were novel one-allele variants. This clone appears to be related (five of seven identical alleles) to two other internationally disseminated clones, Hungary19A-6 and Poland23F-16, both of which are penicillin resistant. The presence of antibiotic-susceptible isolates of this clone suggests that traits other than antibiotic resistance can make a clone successful.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Bacteriology and Medical Mycology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. Phone: (39) 064990 2852. Fax: (39) 064938 7112. E-mail: pantosti{at}iss.it.

{dagger} Present address: Dipartimento di Scienze Biochimiche, Università La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2003, p. 2855-2861, Vol. 41, No. 7
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.7.2855-2861.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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