Sequence of conjugative plasmid pIP1206 mediating resistance to aminoglycosides by 16S rRNA methylation and to hydrophilic fluoroquinolones by efflux

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2008 Jul;52(7):2581-92. doi: 10.1128/AAC.01540-07. Epub 2008 May 5.

Abstract

Self-transferable IncFI plasmid pIP1206, isolated from an Escherichia coli clinical isolate, carries two new resistance determinants: qepA, which confers resistance to hydrophylic fluoroquinolones by efflux, and rmtB, which specifies a 16S rRNA methylase conferring high-level aminoglycoside resistance. Analysis of the 168,113-bp sequence (51% G+C) revealed that pIP1206 was composed of several subregions separated by copies of insertion sequences. Of 151 open reading frames, 56 (37%) were also present in pRSB107, isolated from a bacterium in a sewage treatment plant. pIP1206 contained four replication regions (RepFIA, RepFIB, and two partial RepFII regions) and a transfer region 91% identical with that of pAPEC-O1-ColBM, a plasmid isolated from an avian pathogenic E. coli. A putative oriT region was found upstream from the transfer region. The antibiotic resistance genes tet(A), catA1, bla(TEM-1), rmtB, and qepA were clustered in a 33.5-kb fragment delineated by two IS26 elements that also carried a class 1 integron, including the sulI, qacEDelta1, aad4, and dfrA17 genes and Tn10, Tn21, and Tn3-like transposons. The plasmid also possessed a raffinose operon, an arginine deiminase pathway, a putative iron acquisition gene cluster, an S-methylmethionine metabolism operon, two virulence-associated genes, and a type I DNA restriction-modification (R-M) system. Three toxin/antitoxin systems and the R-M system ensured stabilization of the plasmid in the host bacteria. These data suggest that the mosaic structure of pIP1206 could have resulted from recombination between pRSB107 and a pAPEC-O1-ColBM-like plasmid, combined with structural rearrangements associated with acquisition of additional DNA by recombination and of mobile genetic elements by transposition.

MeSH terms

  • Acinetobacter / drug effects
  • Acinetobacter / genetics
  • Aminoglycosides / pharmacology*
  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Base Composition
  • Base Sequence
  • Chromosome Mapping
  • Conjugation, Genetic
  • DNA Primers / genetics
  • DNA, Bacterial / chemistry
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial / genetics
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects*
  • Escherichia coli / genetics*
  • Escherichia coli / metabolism
  • Fluoroquinolones / pharmacology
  • Genes, Bacterial
  • Humans
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / drug effects
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / genetics
  • R Factors / genetics*
  • RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional
  • RNA, Bacterial / metabolism
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / metabolism
  • Replication Origin
  • Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid

Substances

  • Aminoglycosides
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • DNA Primers
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • Fluoroquinolones
  • RNA, Bacterial
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S

Associated data

  • GENBANK/AM886293