RESUMO
Tributyltin (TBT) is a toxic agent used in marine antifouling paints. Among the bacterial flora of a polluted harbor, TBT-resistant strains of Pseudomonas stutzeri have been isolated. In the strain 5MP1 (TBT minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) > or =1000 mg l(-1)), TBT resistance was found to be associated with the presence of the operon tbtABM, homologous to the resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND) efflux pump family, as demonstrated by cloning in Escherichia coli. TbtABM exhibited the greatest homology (60.9-84.9%) with the TtgDEF and SrpABC systems, both involved in aromatic compound tolerance in P. putida. TbtABM conferred multidrug resistance (MDR) including to n-hexane, nalidixic acid, chloramphenicol, and sulfamethoxazole (antibiotic MICsx4 for the E. coli host strain carrying the operon). By polymerase chain reaction amplification and hybridization experiments, the presence of tbtABM was detected in the TBT-sensitive P. stutzeri 3MP1 (TBT MIC 25 mg l(-1)). However, the latter strain did not seem to express TbtABM. This is the first description of a MDR efflux pump in P. stutzeri, and of a new kind of substrate, TBT, for the RND family of transporters.
Assuntos
Farmacorresistência Bacteriana Múltipla , Proteínas Associadas à Resistência a Múltiplos Medicamentos/metabolismo , Pseudomonas stutzeri/efeitos dos fármacos , Compostos de Trialquitina/metabolismo , Compostos de Trialquitina/farmacologia , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Transporte Biológico Ativo , Cloranfenicol/metabolismo , Cloranfenicol/farmacologia , DNA Bacteriano/química , DNA Bacteriano/isolamento & purificação , Genes Bacterianos , Genes MDR , Hexanos/metabolismo , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Proteínas Associadas à Resistência a Múltiplos Medicamentos/genética , Ácido Nalidíxico/metabolismo , Ácido Nalidíxico/farmacologia , Óperon , Pseudomonas putida , Pseudomonas stutzeri/fisiologia , Análise de Sequência de DNA , Homologia de Sequência , Sulfametoxazol/metabolismo , Sulfametoxazol/farmacologiaRESUMO
Most Aeromonas strains isolated from two European rivers were previously found to be resistant to nalidixic acid. In order to elucidate the mechanism of this resistance, 20 strains of Aeromonas caviae (n = 10), A. hydrophila (n = 5), and A. sobria (n = 5) complexes, including 3 reference strains and 17 environmental isolates, were investigated. Fragments of the gyrA, gyrB, parC, and parE genes encompassing the quinolone resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) were amplified by PCR and sequenced. Results obtained for the six sensitive strains showed that the GyrA, GyrB, ParC, and ParE QRDR fragments of Aeromonas spp. were highly conserved (> or =96.1% identity), despite some genetic polymorphism; they were most closely related to those of Vibrio spp., Pseudomonas spp., and members of the family Enterobacteriaceae (72.4 to 97.1% homology). All 14 environmental resistant strains carried a point mutation in the GyrA QRDR at codon 83, leading to the substitution Ser-83-->Ile (10 strains) or Ser-83-->Arg. In addition, seven strains harbored a mutation in the ParC QRDR either at position 80 (five strains), generating a Ser-80-->Ile (three strains) or Ser-80-->Arg change, or at position 84, yielding a Glu-84-->Lys modification. No amino acid alterations were discovered in the GyrB and ParE QRDRs. Double gyrA-parC missense mutations were associated with higher levels of quinolone resistance compared with the levels associated with single gyrA mutations. The most resistant strains probably had an additional mechanism(s) of resistance, such as decreased accumulation of the drugs. Our data suggest that, in mesophilic Aeromonas spp., as in other gram-negative bacteria, gyrase and topoisomerase IV are the primary and secondary targets for quinolones, respectively.
