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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, June 2001, p. 1645-1648, Vol. 45, No. 6
0066-4804/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AAC.45.6.1645-1648.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Molecular Basis of Rifampin and Isoniazid Resistance in Mycobacterium bovis Strains Isolated in Sardinia, Italy

L. A. Sechi,^1,* S. Zanetti,¹ M. Sanguinetti,² P. Molicotti,¹ L. Romano,² G. Leori,³ G. Delogu,¹ S. Boccia,² M. La Sorda,² and G. Fadda²

Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Sezione Microbiologia, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Sassari,¹ Istituto di Microbiologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma,² and Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, 07100 Sassari,³ Italy

Received 28 August 2000/Returned for modification 20 November 2000/Accepted 5 March 2001

Fourteen of 22 (68%) Mycobacterium bovis strains isolated from cattle in Sardinia were found to be resistant to rifampin and isoniazid. Analysis of the rpoB and the katG, oxyR-ahpC, and inhA gene regions of these strains was performed in order to investigate the molecular basis of rifampin and isoniazid resistance, respectively. The most frequent mutation, encountered in 6 of 10 strains (60%), was in the rpoB gene; it occurred, at codon position 521 and resulted in leucine changed to proline. This suggests that codon 521 may be important for the development of rifampin resistance in M. bovis. Resistance to isoniazid is associated in Mycobacterium tuberculosis with a variety of mutations affecting one or more genes. Our results confirm the difficulty of interpreting the sequence variations observed in clinical strains of M. bovis. M. bovis strains isolated from the same geographic area showed similar mutations within the genes responsible for rifampin and isoniazid resistance. Our results represent the first study to elucidate the molecular genetic basis of drug resistance in M. bovis isolated from cattle.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Sezione di Microbiologia Sperimentale e Clinica, Università degli studi di Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Phone: 079 228303. Fax: 079 212345. E-mail: sechila{at}ssmain.uniss.it.

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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, June 2001, p. 1645-1648, Vol. 45, No. 6
0066-4804/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AAC.45.6.1645-1648.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

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