A new subclass of intrinsic aminoglycoside nucleotidyltransferases, ANT(3")-II, is horizontally transferred among Acinetobacter spp. by homologous recombination

PLoS Genet. 2017 Feb 2;13(2):e1006602. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006602. eCollection 2017 Feb.

Abstract

The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance among Acinetobacter spp. have been investigated extensively. Most studies focused on the multiple antibiotic resistance genes located on plasmids or genomic resistance islands. On the other hand, the mechanisms controlling intrinsic resistance are still not well understood. In this study, we identified the novel subclass of aminoglycoside nucleotidyltransferase ANT(3")-II in Acinetobacter spp., which comprised numerous variants distributed among three main clades. All members of this subclass can inactivate streptomycin and spectinomycin. The three ant(3")-II genes, encoding for the three ANT(3")-II clades, are widely distributed in the genus Acinetobacter and always located in the same conserved genomic region. According to their prevalence, these genes are intrinsic in Acinetobacter baumannii, Acinetobacter pittii, and Acinetobacter gyllenbergii. We also demonstrated that the ant(3")-II genes are located in a homologous recombination hotspot and were recurrently transferred among Acinetobacter species. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated a novel mechanism of natural resistance in Acinetobacter spp., identified a novel subclass of aminoglycoside nucleotidyltransferase and provided new insight into the evolutionary history of intrinsic resistance genes.

MeSH terms

  • Acinetobacter / classification
  • Acinetobacter / enzymology
  • Acinetobacter / genetics*
  • Acinetobacter Infections / microbiology
  • Acinetobacter baumannii / enzymology
  • Acinetobacter baumannii / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics*
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Drug Resistance, Microbial / drug effects
  • Drug Resistance, Microbial / genetics
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Gene Transfer, Horizontal*
  • Homologous Recombination*
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions
  • Humans
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Nucleotidyltransferases / genetics*
  • Nucleotidyltransferases / metabolism
  • Phylogeny
  • Species Specificity
  • Spectinomycin / metabolism
  • Spectinomycin / pharmacology
  • Streptomycin / metabolism
  • Streptomycin / pharmacology

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Spectinomycin
  • Nucleotidyltransferases
  • streptomycin 3''-adenylyltransferase
  • Streptomycin

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Key Basic Research Development Plan of China (973 Program) (grant 2015CB554202) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 31500061). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.