title: Characterization of beta-lactam-resistant Bacteroides fragilis isolates by use of PCR fingerprinting.
abstract: PCR fingerprinting was used for characterization of 35 beta-lactam-resistant Bacteroides fragilis strains isolated in Sweden and Hungary. Ten B. fragilis strains showed unique PCR fingerprints by use of the M13 core primer. Their main product was a DNA fragment with a length of 2000-bp which was absent in the other 25 strains and the reference strain B. fragilis ATCC 25285. The 2000-bp fragment from four imipenem-resistant strains gave rise to positive reactions in a specific PCR for detection of ccrA. Printed by the T3B primer, five B. fragilis strains, including the imipenem-resistant strains showed unique PCR fingerprints. The investigated imipenem-resistant strains produced carbapenem-hydrolysing metallo-beta-lactamases. The study indicates that the unique PCR fingerprinting profiles shown in highly beta-lactam resistant B. fragilis strains are correlated to antimicrobial resistance. The PCR fingerprinting technique is a useful tool for differentiation of Bacteroides fragilis strains with high-level beta-lactam resistance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Microbiology, Pathology and Infectious Diseases, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, S-141 86, Huddinge, Sweden.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hedberg
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Edlund
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jarstrand
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fodor
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Nord