title: Spread of a "Pseudomonas-specific" beta-lactamase to plasmids of enterobacteria.
abstract: Eleven isolates including Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, and Shigella sonnei, obtained in Brazil, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, and the United States, were found to produce beta-lactamase of the PSE-1 type, which was previously considered to be Pseudomonas specific. The enterobacterial strains produced a beta-lactamase with the same isoelectric point, immunological reactions, and substrate profile as those of the prototype PSE-1 enzyme determined by Pseudomonas plasmid RPL11. The producer strains were resistant to multiple antibiotics, and all contained plasmids, ranging in size from 37 x 10(6) to 130 x 10(6), that belonged to at last six incompatibility groups. Plasmids of IncH2 and IncFIme were shown to contain 8 x 10(6)-molecular-weight transposons Tn1401 and Tn1402 that encoded PSE-1 beta-lactamase production, resistance to streptomycin and spectinomycin via AAD(3"), and resistance to sulfonamide. PSE-1 beta-lactamase was not Pseudomonas specific and appeared to have spread among plasmids found in enterobacteria by transposition.
mesh_terms: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D010957:Plasmids; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D012475:Salmonella / Q000235:genetics; D012764:Shigella sonnei / Q000235:genetics; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D001618:beta-Lactamases