title: Repetitive-DNA-element PCR fingerprinting and antibiotic resistance of pan-European multi-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii clone III strains.
abstract: In the present study, it was shown that repetitive-DNA-element PCR fingerprinting using the (GTG)5 primer [(GTG)5-PCR] is a rapid and reliable tool to genotypically differentiate members of the recently described pan-European multi-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MAB) clone III from the known MAB clones I and II. The identification of four new representatives of the MAB clone III dating from 1991 to 1993 by (GTG)5-PCR indicates that this clone has persisted in European hospitals since the beginning of the 1990s. Tetracycline (TET) resistance was found to be common among clone III strains, including one strain that also displayed resistance to minocycline. The TET-resistance phenotype in this MAB clone appeared to be strongly associated with the presence of the efflux-type gene tet(A), but the fact that some members lack this gene or have acquired an additional tet gene [i.e. tet(M)] suggests that the tet gene carriage in the pan-European clone III population may have diversified in time and space. In contrast, all clone III strains shared the previously described aminoglycoside resistotype encoded by the aminoglycoside-modifying genes aphA6 and the class 1 integron-associated aadB, which may point to the fact that these genes probably are more stably inherited in MAB clone III compared to tet genes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology1 and BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection6, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium 2National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic 3Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands 4Unité Biodiversité des Bactéries Pathogènes Emergentes, INSERM U389, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France 5Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Geert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huys
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology1 and BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection6, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium 2National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic 3Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands 4Unité Biodiversité des Bactéries Pathogènes Emergentes, INSERM U389, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France 5Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Margo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cnockaert
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology1 and BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection6, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium 2National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic 3Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands 4Unité Biodiversité des Bactéries Pathogènes Emergentes, INSERM U389, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France 5Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Alexandr
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nemec
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology1 and BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection6, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium 2National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic 3Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands 4Unité Biodiversité des Bactéries Pathogènes Emergentes, INSERM U389, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France 5Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lenie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dijkshoorn
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology1 and BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection6, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium 2National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic 3Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands 4Unité Biodiversité des Bactéries Pathogènes Emergentes, INSERM U389, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France 5Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brisse
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology1 and BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection6, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium 2National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic 3Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands 4Unité Biodiversité des Bactéries Pathogènes Emergentes, INSERM U389, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France 5Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaneechoutte
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology1 and BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection6, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium 2National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic 3Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands 4Unité Biodiversité des Bactéries Pathogènes Emergentes, INSERM U389, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France 5Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Swings
mesh_terms: D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D032023:Integrons; D020071:Interspersed Repetitive Sequences / Q000235:genetics*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004269:DNA, Bacterial