Ann Clin Microbiol.  2013 Jun;16(2):75-80. 10.5145/ACM.2013.16.2.75.

Dissemination of an AbaR-type Resistance Island in Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Global Clone 2 in Daejeon of Korea

• Sung JY
• Koo SH
• Cho HH
• Kwon KC

• KMID: 1431768
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2013.16.2.75

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Acinetobacter baumannii resistance islands (AbaRs) are transposons that have the role of important vehicles for the acquisition of antimicrobial resistance genes, and are associated with multidrug resistance (MDR). In this study, we aimed to determine the AbaRs in MDR A. baumannii global clone 2 (GC2) clinical isolates obtained from a university hospital in Daejeon, Korea.
METHODS
This study included 17 MDR A. baumannii strains isolated in Daejeon, Korea. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined by Etest. A. baumannii isolates were characterized using 2 multiplex PCR assays and a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme. To detect and characterize AbaRs, PCR and PCR mapping experiments were performed.
RESULTS
All 17 MDR A. baumannii isolates tested in this study belonged to GC2 and contained 5 sequence types (STs): 75, 92, 137, 138, and 357. Tn6166 that contains antimicrobial resistance genes and is also known as AbaR4a was found in all 17 GC2 strains. This is the first report of Tn6166 in MDR A. baumannii GC2 isolates in Korea. In contrast, AbaR4 was not found in the GC2 isolates.
CONCLUSION
Tn6166 has been disseminated among MDR A. baumannii GC2 isolates in Korea. Further investigation is needed to recover the various types of AbaRs in MDR A. baumannii GC2 isolates in Korea are responsible for the multiple antimicrobial resistance mechanisms.

Keyword

A. baumannii; Transposon; Multilocus sequence typing; PCR

MeSH Terms

Acinetobacter
Acinetobacter baumannii
Clone Cells
Drug Resistance, Multiple
Islands
Korea
Multilocus Sequence Typing
Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction
Polymerase Chain Reaction

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1. Schematic representation of transposons isolated from multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains. The dotted rectangle in Tn6019 represents deletion part in Tn6021. A short patch of 90.8% identity in the tniC-tniA gene region was shown as a black line in Tn6022 and Tn6166. In Tn6022, the dotted rectangle exhibits deletion part in Tn6166. The horizontal arrows indicate the translation orientation of the genes.

• 

  Fig. 2. Schematic representation of transposon, Tn6166 and the amplification regions used in the diagnostic PCRs. The genes are shown by horizontal arrows with the gene name above. The dotted lines indicate PCR amplification regions with primer name on the right. Abbreviation: Tn, transposon.

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