title: Antibiotic susceptibility and prevalence of erythromycin ribosomal methylase gene, erm(B) in Streptococcus spp.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate drug resistance and the genetic relatedness of erythromycin-resistant Streptococcus spp. from different animals and humans in Taiwan. Cumulatively, 248 isolates were collected from 15 animal species and human patients and the susceptibilities of the isolates to six antimicrobial agents including azithromycin (AZI), clarithromycin (CLAR), erythromycin (ERY), spiramycin (SPIR), amoxicillin (AMO), and enrofloxacin (ENRO) were determined by the agar dilution method. The results indicated that resistance among the 248 strains was highest for SPIR, followed by ENRO, CLAR, ERY, AZI, and AMO. The most common resistotypes of the isolates from mammals and aquatic animals were AZI-CLAR-ERY-SPIR (27.5%) and SPIR (55.1%), respectively. The presence of ERY-resistant genes was confirmed by PCR. The erm gene was amplified from 28 isolates (20.6%) by PCR for further investigation. The predominant erm gene in the ERY-resistant isolates was the erm(B) gene. The phylogenetic analysis of the erm(B) gene results indicated that there was a close genetic relationship among all the strains but the genotypic clusters did not show clear segregation of the isolates according to the source or region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, 250, Kuo-Kuang Road, Taichung City 402, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shao-Wen
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Shu-Ling
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ching-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Yueh-Chih
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Shih-Te
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Meng-Tong
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Shieh
authors.forename: Pan-Chen
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Way-Shyan
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004917:Erythromycin; D008780:Methyltransferases; C431709:ErmA protein, Bacteria