Clinical isolates of Vibrio fluvialis from Kolkata, India, obtained during 2006: plasmids, the qnr gene and a mutation in gyrase A as mechanisms of multidrug resistance

J Med Microbiol. 2012 Mar;61(Pt 3):369-374. doi: 10.1099/jmm.0.037226-0. Epub 2011 Oct 27.

Abstract

Resistance profiles and their correlation with genetic factors were investigated in 12 isolates of Vibrio fluvialis obtained from hospitalized patients in Kolkata, India, in 2006. All the strains displayed drug resistance with varying antibiograms. However, resistance to ampicillin and neomycin was common to all of them. Three isolates harboured plasmids carrying drug-resistance genes that could be transferred to recipient strains by conjugation and transformation. PCR results indicated the absence of class 1 integrons and SXT elements in these isolates. A mutation in gyrase A (serine 83→isoleucine) and the presence of the qnrVC-like [corrected] gene were found to contribute towards quinolone resistance. In the 12 isolates, the qnrVC-like [corrected] gene was associated only with two plasmid-bearing isolates, L10734 and L9978, which displayed resistance to quinolones. The gene was transferable during transformation and conjugation, indicating that it was plasmid-borne. Taken together, these data indicate that plasmids, the qnrVC-like [corrected] gene and a mutation in gyrase A were responsible for the observed drug resistance in these strains. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of the qnrVC-like [corrected] allele in V. fluvialis isolates from India.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Cholera / microbiology
  • Conjugation, Genetic
  • DNA Gyrase / genetics*
  • DNA, Bacterial / chemistry
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial*
  • Gene Transfer, Horizontal
  • Humans
  • India
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutation, Missense*
  • Plasmids / analysis*
  • Quinolones / pharmacology
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Vibrio / genetics*
  • Vibrio / isolation & purification*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • Quinolones
  • DNA Gyrase

Associated data

  • GENBANK/GQ466187
  • GENBANK/GQ466188
  • GENBANK/GQ466189
  • GENBANK/GQ466190
  • GENBANK/GQ466191
  • GENBANK/GQ466192
  • GENBANK/GQ466193
  • GENBANK/GQ466194
  • GENBANK/GQ466195
  • GENBANK/GU326332
  • GENBANK/GU326333
  • GENBANK/GU326334