Bleomycin-kanamycin resistance as a marker of the presence of transposon Tn5 in clinical strains of Escherichia coli.
The aminoglycoside modifying enzyme aminoglycoside 3'-phosphotransferase II (APH(3')II) is encoded for on transposon Tn5 by the aphA gene, in the same operon as the ble gene determining bleomycin resistance. To document this linkage 82 kanamycin-resistant Escherichia coli strains of clinical origin were studied; all 18 isolates presenting bleomycin-kanamycin resistance were shown by an enzymatic assay to produce APH(3')II, and the presence of Tn5 was demonstrated by gene hybridization. Similarly, bleomycin-kanamycin resistance was shown to be linked to APH(3')II production in Salmonella spp. The epidemiology of strains with Tn5-encoded APH(3')II may thus be studied, at least in Escherichia coli, by a simple diffusion test using bleomycin and kanamycin discs.
Baquero
F
F
Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, C., Madrid, Spain.
Saldaña
M A
MA
Blazquez
J
J
Palacios
R G
RG
Aguiar
J M
JM
Martinez
J L
JL
Vicente
M F
MF
Rubio
C
C
Gómez-Lus
R
R
D001761:Bleomycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D019868:Kanamycin Kinase; D007613:Kanamycin Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D010770:Phosphotransferases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D012475:Salmonella / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D001761:Bleomycin; D010770:Phosphotransferases; D019868:Kanamycin Kinase