Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, October 1999, p. 2520-2523, Vol. 43, No. 10
0066-4804/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Drug Efflux and parC Mutations Are
Involved in Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Viridans Group
Streptococci
María José
Ferrándiz,1
Jesús
Oteo,2
Belén
Aracil,2
Jose Luis
Gómez-Garcés,2 and
Adela G.
De La
Campa1,*
Unidad de Genética Bacteriana (Consejo
Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Centro Nacional
de Biología Fundamental, Instituto de Salud Carlos III,
Majadahonda, 28220 Madrid,1 and
Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital de Móstoles,
28935 Madrid,2 Spain
Received 17 May 1999/Returned for modification 29 June
1999/Accepted 29 July 1999
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ABSTRACT |
Nine ciprofloxacin-resistant viridans group streptococci isolated
from asymptomatic carriers were analyzed. Identification to the species
level by using three different commercial systems and a PCR-based
approach was inconsistent. The nucleotide sequences of fragments of the
parC, parE, gyrA, and
gyrB genes showed considerable intra- and interspecies
variations, and these variations mainly involved silent mutations.
Three isolates had changes in Ser-79 of ParC (to Phe or Tyr).
Phenotypic characterization indicated that eight of the nine isolates
had a putative efflux mechanism that would confer low-level resistance
to ciprofloxacin.
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TEXT |
Although viridans group streptococci
(VGS) form part of the normal flora of the human oral cavity, they
cause infective endocarditis (9, 25, 27) and are a major
cause of bacteremia in neutropenic cancer patients (4, 6, 8,
10). Increasing levels of resistance to penicillin and macrolide
antibiotics have been observed in these bacteria (2, 3, 6,
8). Fluoroquinolone (Fq) resistance (Fqr) has been
reported in VGS isolates from the blood of neutropenic cancer patients
who received quinolone prophylaxis (14, 29). In general,
there are two major mechanisms of Fqr including alterations
in DNA topoisomerase IV (topo IV) and DNA gyrase (gyrase) and reduced
levels of drug accumulation as a result of enhanced efflux. Efflux
mechanisms as a cause of low-level Fqr have been described
in Streptococcus pneumoniae (5, 7, 31) and other
gram-positive bacteria (1, 16, 20-23, 30). In a recent
study, the pmrA gene has been identified as a gene that
codes for a pneumococcal Fq efflux pump (13). Genetic
disruption of the transporter genes or inhibition of the transporter
activity by the alkaloid reserpine decreased the MICs of Fqs and other toxins for those gram-positive bacteria (1, 13, 18, 21).
Fluoroquinolone susceptibility and classification of VGS
isolates.
The VGS strains were isolated from asymptomatic patients
during 1998 at the Hospital of Móstoles and were identified by
standard methods (11, 26). The strains were first screened
for decreased ciprofloxacin (Cp) susceptibility by disk diffusion (5 µg/disk), and those that yielded inhibition zone diameters of <12 mm
were interpreted as resistant. By these criteria, a sample of 50 Cp-resistant (Cpr) VGS isolates was selected. These
isolates were preliminarily classified at the species level by using
three different standard phenotypic systems: API 20-Strep and ID
32-Strep (Biomerieux, Marcy L'Etoile, France) and BBL Crystal
(Becton-Dickinson Europe, Meylan, France). The API 20-Strep and ID
32-Strep systems identified 48 and 49 of the 50 strains, respectively,
while the BBL Crystal system identified only 34 of the 50 strains. The
three methods allowed the coincidental identification of only 3 of the
50 isolates analyzed, while the two systems from the same manufacturer
showed concordance for the identification of about half of the isolates (26 strains).
Further characterization of Fq susceptibility among the 50 Cpr VGS isolates was performed by E-test analysis on
Mueller-Hinton agar plates (Difco) supplemented with 5% defibrinated
sheep blood. This analysis revealed that nine strains had high-level
Cpr (
16 µg/ml) (Table 1).
Their susceptibilities to Cp, sparfloxacin, and clinafloxacin were
determined by the agar dilution method as described previously
(14). Among the nine strains, for seven strains the Cp MICs
by the agar dilution method were 4 µg/ml (a value fourfold lower than
that observed by the E test), and the seven strains were then
classified as having low-level Cpr. However, two strains
had high-level Cpr by both the E-test and the agar dilution
methods. Similar differences between the E-test and the agar dilution
methods were observed when the susceptibilities to sparfloxacin were
considered (Table 1).
Although these nine isolates were coincidentally identified by both the
API 20-Strep and the ID 32-Strep systems (Table 1), they were also
subjected to an additional identification by the PCR method described
by Garnier et al. (12). Three pairs of specific
oligonucleotides, each one being specific for one species, were used in
PCRs with DNA from each isolate obtained as described previously
(14). This method allowed the identification of
Streptococcus mitis NCTC 12261 and Streptococcus
oralis ATCC 10557. However, S. oralis NCTC 11427 was
amplified with the pairs of primers specific for both S. mitis and Streptococcus sanguis, with the size of the
PCR fragment obtained with the S. mitis pair being larger than expected (Fig. 1). Among the nine
clinical isolates, only four, phenotypically identified as S. mitis, were amplified with any pair of oligonucleotides. By this
PCR method, strains V2 and V10 were identified as S. sanguis
and S. oralis, respectively. Isolate V3 was amplified with
the S. oralis-specific primers, but it also showed two bands
with the S. sanguis-specific pair of primers. Likewise,
isolate V1 also showed two PCR products with the S. mitis-specific pair of primers; one of the products corresponded
to S. mitis and the other corresponded to S. oralis.

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FIG. 1.
Identification of Cpr VGS isolates by the
PCR method described by Garnier et al. (12). The DNAs of
S. oralis ATCC 10557, S. oralis NCTC 11427, S. mitis NCTC 12261, and clinical isolates (S. mitis V1, V2, V3, and V10) were amplified with the oligonucleotide
pairs indicated. O, M, and S, the S. oralis-, S. mitis-, and S. sanguis-specific pairs, respectively;
Mw, bacteriophage DNA digested with EcoRI and
HindIII. PCR products were resolved by electrophoresis
on a 1.5% agarose-Tris-acetate-EDTA gel that was stained with a
0.5-µg/ml ethidium bromide solution. The sizes (in base pairs) of the
PCR products expected for the different species are indicated on the
left.
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We thank P. A. Lazo for allowing us to use the PCGENE program
on his computer and for critical reading of the manuscript. The
technical assistance of A. Rodriguez-Bernabé is acknowledged.
M.J.F. has a postdoctoral fellowship from Comunidad Autónoma de
Madrid. This work was supported by grants 97/2026 from Fondo de
Investigación Sanitaria and 08.2/0007/1997 from the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid.
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