This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Balsalobre, L. Articles by de la Campa, A. G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Balsalobre, L. Articles by de la Campa, A. G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, July 2003, p. 2072-2081, Vol. 47, No. 7
0066-4804/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AAC.47.7.2072-2081.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Viridans Group Streptococci Are Donors in Horizontal Transfer of Topoisomerase IV Genes to Streptococcus pneumoniae

Unidad de Genética Bacteriana (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28220 Majadahonda, Madrid,¹ Hospital de Bellvitge, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain²

Received 21 January 2003/ Returned for modification 3 March 2003/ Accepted 25 March 2003

A total of 46 ciprofloxacin-resistant (Cip^r) Streptococcus pneumoniae strains were isolated from 1991 to 2001 at the Hospital of Bellvitge. Five of these strains showed unexpectedly high rates of nucleotide variations in the quinolone resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) of their parC, parE, and gyrA genes. The nucleotide sequence of the full-length parC, parE, and gyrA genes of one of these isolates revealed a mosaic structure compatible with an interspecific recombination origin. Southern blot analysis and nucleotide sequence determinations showed the presence of an ant-like gene in the intergenic parE-parC regions of the S. pneumoniae Cip^r isolates with high rates of variations in their parE and parC QRDRs. The ant-like gene was absent from typical S. pneumoniae strains, whereas it was present in the intergenic parE-parC regions of the viridans group streptococci (Streptococcus mitis and Streptococcus oralis). These results suggest that the viridans group streptococci are acting as donors in the horizontal transfer of fluoroquinolone resistance genes to S. pneumoniae.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Balsalobre, L., de la Campa, A. G. (2008). Fitness of Streptococcus pneumoniae Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Strains with Topoisomerase IV Recombinant Genes. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 822-830 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gould, C. V., Sniegowski, P. D., Shchepetov, M., Metlay, J. P., Weiser, J. N. (2007). Identifying Mutator Phenotypes among Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae Using Fluctuation Analysis. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 3225-3229 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ip, M., Chau, S. S. L., Chi, F., Tang, J., Chan, P. K. (2007). Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Atypical Pneumococci and Oral Streptococci: Evidence of Horizontal Gene Transfer of Fluoroquinolone Resistance Determinants from Streptococcus pneumoniae. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 2690-2700 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Escudero, J. A., San Millan, A., Catalan, A., de la Campa, A. G., Rivero, E., Lopez, G., Dominguez, L., Moreno, M. A., Gonzalez-Zorn, B. (2007). First Characterization of Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Streptococcus suis. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 777-782 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Jefferies, J., Nieminen, L., Kirkham, L.-A., Johnston, C., Smith, A., Mitchell, T. J. (2007). Identification of a Secreted Cholesterol-Dependent Cytolysin (Mitilysin) from Streptococcus mitis. J. Bacteriol. 189: 627-632 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Adam, H. J., Schurek, K. N., Nichol, K. A., Hoban, C. J., Baudry, T. J., Laing, N. M., Hoban, D. J., Zhanel, G. G. (2007). Molecular Characterization of Increasing Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates in Canada, 1997 to 2005. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 198-207 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Marri, P. R., Hao, W., Golding, G. B. (2006). Gene Gain and Gene Loss in Streptococcus: Is It Driven by Habitat?. Mol Biol Evol 23: 2379-2391 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Balsalobre, L., Hernandez-Madrid, A., Llull, D., Martin-Galiano, A. J., Garcia, E., Fenoll, A., de la Campa, A. G. (2006). Molecular Characterization of Disease-Associated Streptococci of the Mitis Group That Are Optochin Susceptible. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 4163-4171 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pletz, M. W. R., McGee, L., Van Beneden, C. A., Petit, S., Bardsley, M., Barlow, M., Klugman, K. P. (2006). Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Invasive Streptococcus pyogenes Isolates Due to Spontaneous Mutation and Horizontal Gene Transfer. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 50: 943-948 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Davies, T. A., Yee, Y. C., Goldschmidt, R., Bush, K., Sahm, D. F., Evangelista, A. (2006). Infrequent occurrence of single mutations in topoisomerase IV and DNA gyrase genes among US levofloxacin-susceptible clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae from nine institutions (1999-2003). J Antimicrob Chemother 57: 437-442 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ferrandiz, M. J., Perez-Trallero, E., Marimon, J. M., de la Campa, A. G. (2005). Clinical Isolates of the Spain14-5 Clone of Streptococcus pneumoniae Carry a Recombinant rpoB Gene. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 49: 4811-4813 [Full Text]  
• Stanhope, M. J., Walsh, S. L., Becker, J. A., Italia, M. J., Ingraham, K. A., Gwynn, M. N., Mathie, T., Poupard, J. A., Miller, L. A., Brown, J. R., Amrine-Madsen, H. (2005). Molecular Evolution Perspectives on Intraspecific Lateral DNA Transfer of Topoisomerase and Gyrase Loci in Streptococcus pneumoniae, with Implications for Fluoroquinolone Resistance Development and Spread. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 49: 4315-4326 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Reinert, R. R., Reinert, S., van der Linden, M., Cil, M. Y., Al-Lahham, A., Appelbaum, P. (2005). Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Eight European Countries from 2001 to 2003. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 49: 2903-2913 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ferrandiz, M. J., Ardanuy, C., Linares, J., Garcia-Arenzana, J. M., Cercenado, E., Fleites, A., de la Campa, A. G., the Spanish Pneumococcal Infection Study Network, (2005). New Mutations and Horizontal Transfer of rpoB among Rifampin-Resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae from Four Spanish Hospitals. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 49: 2237-2245 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ramos, J. L., Martinez-Bueno, M., Molina-Henares, A. J., Teran, W., Watanabe, K., Zhang, X., Gallegos, M. T., Brennan, R., Tobes, R. (2005). The TetR Family of Transcriptional Repressors. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 69: 326-356 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pletz, M. W. R., McGee, L., Beall, B., Whitney, C. G., Klugman, K. P. (2005). Interspecies Recombination in Type II Topoisomerase Genes Is Not a Major Cause of Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates in the United States. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 49: 779-780 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Romero, P., Lopez, R., Garcia, E. (2004). Characterization of LytA-Like N-Acetylmuramoyl-L-Alanine Amidases from Two New Streptococcus mitis Bacteriophages Provides Insights into the Properties of the Major Pneumococcal Autolysin. J. Bacteriol. 186: 8229-8239 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Brown, S. D., Farrell, D. J., Morrissey, I. (2004). Prevalence and Molecular Analysis of Macrolide and Fluoroquinolone Resistance among Isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae Collected during the 2000-2001 PROTEKT US Study. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 4980-4987 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Del Grosso, M., Scotto d'Abusco, A., Iannelli, F., Pozzi, G., Pantosti, A. (2004). Tn2009, a Tn916-Like Element Containing mef(E) in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 48: 2037-2042 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Martin-Galiano, A. J., Balsalobre, L., Fenoll, A., de la Campa, A. G. (2003). Genetic Characterization of Optochin-Susceptible Viridans Group Streptococci. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 47: 3187-3194 [Abstract] [Full Text]