title: Molecular characterization of integrons in Acinetobacter baumannii: description of a hybrid class 2 integron.
abstract: Twenty Acinetobacter baumannii strains resistant to various antibiotics were analyzed for integron content and sequences of the amplification products. Sixteen clinical isolates had a class 1 integron, 2 contained an additional class 1 or class 2 integron, but no class 3 integron was detected. Thirteen strains had integrons with a single cassette: aac(3)-Ia (9 strains), ant(2")-Ia (2 strains), or aac(6')-Ib (2 strains); 1 had aac(6')-Ib and oxa20 cassettes and an unknown gene; and 1 had an integron containing ant(2")-Ia and an oxa3 cassette truncated by IS6100. The remaining strains harbored class 1 integrons with gene cassettes previously found in Enterobacteriaceae. One integron had a hybrid structure composed of intI2 and the 3' conserved segment of class 1 integrons. These data indicate that integrons play a major role in multidrug resistance in Acinetobacter.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Bactériologie-Virologie-Hygiène, CHU Dupuytren, 87042 Limoges, France. marieploy@lemel.fr
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ploy
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Denis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Courvalin
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lambert
mesh_terms: D000150:Acinetobacter / Q000235:genetics*; D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D016023:Integrins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D016023:Integrins