Objective: To investigate the presence and genetic background of 16S rRNA methylase gene and Aminoglycoside modifying enzymes (AMEs) genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from the People's Liberation Army 98th Hospital, Huzhou district, Zhejiang province, China.
Methods: 25 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae were isolated from the inpatients between September, 2005 and April, 2006. 6 kinds of 16S rRNA methylase gene (including armA, rmtA, rmtB, rmtC, rmtD and npmA), 6 kinds of AMEs genes [including aac (3)-I, aac (3)-II, aac (6')-I, aac (6')-II, ant (3")-I and ant (2")-I], intI1, intI2, intI3, mercuric reductase gene merA (merA gene were the collective genetic markers of transposons of Tn21 and Tn501) and tnpA (tnpA gene were the collective genetic markers of transposons of Tn1, Tn2,Tn3 and Tn1000) were analyzed by PCR and verificated by DNA sequencing.
Results: In 25 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae, the positive rate of genes of rmtB, aac (3)-II, aac (6')-I, ant (3")-I and intI1 were 60.0% (15/25), 4.0% (1/25), 48.0% (12/25), 60.0% (15/25) and 96.0% (24/25), respectively. The rest 12 kinds of genes were all tested negative. The total positive rate of 6 kinds of AMEs gene was 84.0% (21/25).
Conclusion: There were very high positive rate on both genes of rmtB and AMEs genotypes in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from inpatients, and this was the first report of the emergence of 16S rRNA methylase gene rmtB in Klebsiella pneumoniae identified in Zhejiang province, China.