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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2000, p. 840-847, Vol. 44, No. 4
Unidad de Genética Bacteriana (Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Científicas), Centro Nacional de
Biología Fundamental,1 and
Servicio de Bacteriología, Centro Nacional de
Microbiología,2 Instituto de Salud
Carlos III, 28220 Majadahonda, Madrid, and Servicio de
Microbiología, Hospital Princeps d'Espanya, Ciutat
Sanitària i Universitaria de Bellvitge, 08907 l'Hospitalet
de Llobregat, Barcelona,3 Spain
Received 30 July 1999/Returned for modification 4 November
1999/Accepted 27 December 1999
We have analyzed genetically three clinical isolates (3180, 3870, and 1244) of Streptococcus pneumoniae with high-level
ciprofloxacin resistance. Isolates 3180 and 3870 were atypical because
of their insolubility in deoxycholate. However, they
hybridized specifically with pneumococcal autolysin and pneumolysin
gene probes and have typical pneumococcal atpC and
atpA gene sequences. Analysis of the complete sequences of
the parC and gyrA genes revealed total variations of 8 and 8.7% (isolate 3180) and 7.4 and 3.6% (isolate 3870), respectively, compared to the wild-type strain R6 sequence. The
variations observed between the sequences of R6 and isolate 1244 were
less than 0.9%. The structure of the gyrA and
parC genes from isolates 3180 and 3870 was organized in
sequence blocks that show different levels of divergence, suggesting a
pattern of recombination. These results are evidence for recombination
at the fluoroquinolone target genes in clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae. The genetically related viridans group streptococci
could act as a reservoir for fluoroquinolone resistance genes.
0066-4804/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Horizontal Transfer of parC and gyrA in
Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Clinical Isolates of
Streptococcus pneumoniae
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unidad de
Genética Bacteriana (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones
Científicas), Centro Nacional de Biología Fundamental,
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28220 Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain. Phone:
(34) 91-5097904. Fax: (34) 91-5097919. E-mail:
agcampa{at}isciii.es.
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