title: Class 1 integrons in non-clonal multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii from Iran, description of the new blaIMP-55 allele in In1243.
abstract: Infections and outbreaks caused by multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-AB) are prevalent and have been reported worldwide over the past 20 or more years. Class 1 integron in MDR-AB plays an important role in the spread of antibiotic resistance in clinical settings. This study has been conducted to evaluate the detection of metallo-β-lactamase, characterization of class 1 integron and determination of clonal relatedness among A. baumannii hospital isolates. Sixty-five clinical isolates of MDR-AB were recovered from two Iranian hospital's intensive care units from February to August 2013. Integrase (intI1) and blaIMP genes were detected in 70.8 % (n=46/65) and 9.23 % (n=6/65) of the isolates using PCR assay, respectively. No other metallo-β-lactamase genes (blaVIM, blaSIM and blaNDM) were detected. PCR sequencing of integron gene cassette revealed the following arrays: blaOXA10-aacA4-blaIMP-55-cmlA5 (as a novel array was designated In1243), aacC1 and aadA1. Analysis of blaIMP gene revealed a new allele designated as blaIMP-55. Gene transfer experiment by conjugation showed the 36 kb conjugative plasmid harbouring In1243. The clonal assessment by repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR demonstrated a high-degree relatedness among the strains, but strains harbouring In1243 displayed a different repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR profile. In this study, we found that a novel class 1 integron (In1243) that encoded a new blaIMP allele resided on a transferable plasmid in non-clonal strains of MDR-AB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Virology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Omid
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Azizi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Virology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.|Kerman Research Center for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Kerman, Iran.|Environmental Health Sciences and Engineering Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Shakibaie
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, Microbiology Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farzad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Badmasti
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Jahrom, Iran.
authors.forename: Farzan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Modarresi
authors.affiliation: Cellular & Molecular Research Center and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Rashid
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramazanzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Virology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mansouri
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, Microbiology Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fereshteh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shahcheraghi
mesh_terms: D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005838:Genotype; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D032023:Integrons; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058889:Molecular Typing; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001618:beta-Lactamases; C063912:carbapenemase