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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, October 2002, p. 3261-3264, Vol. 46, No. 10
0066-4804/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.46.10.3261-3264.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Penicillin-Binding Protein 1A, 2B, and 2X Alterations in Canadian Isolates of Penicillin-Resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae
Kimberly A. Nichol,1,2* George G. Zhanel,1,2,3,4 and Daryl J. Hoban1,2
Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine,1
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba,3
Departments of Medicine,4
Clinical Microbiology, Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3A 1R9, Canada2
Received 30 October 2001/
Returned for modification 16 March 2002/
Accepted 10 July 2002

ABSTRACT
Alterations within the penicillin-binding domain of penicillin-binding
protein (PBP) genes
pbp1a,
pbp2b, and
pbp2x were determined
for 15 Canadian isolates of
Streptococcus pneumoniae. All penicillin-nonsusceptible
S. pneumoniae isolates showed a variety of PBP 2X substitutions
and contained a Thr445-Ala change after the PBP 2B SSN motif.
Only isolates for which penicillin MICs were

0.5 µg/ml
had PBP 1A alterations near the STMK and SRN motifs. Sequence
analysis revealed identical PBP 1A, PBP 2B, and PBP 2X substitution
patterns among all isolates for which penicillin MICs were

1
µg/ml.

TEXT
Streptococcus pneumoniae remains one of the most important bacterial
pathogens associated with community-acquired pneumonia, meningitis,
sinusitis, and acute otitis media (
3). Penicillin has traditionally
been used for the treatment of most pneumococcal infections.
Recently, however, the efficacy of ß-lactam antibiotics
has been compromised by rapid increases in the prevalence of
penicillin-resistant
S. pneumoniae (
3). In Canada, data from
a 1997-1998 national surveillance study have demonstrated that
S. pneumoniae strains with reduced susceptibility to penicillin
constitute 21.2% of respiratory tract isolates (
23).
The major antibacterial action of penicillin is derived from its ability to bind to and inactivate penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). PBPs are membrane-associated serine peptidases that catalyze the polymerization and transpeptidation of glycan strands during the final steps of peptidoglycan biosynthesis (22). In all PBPs, the catalytic centers of transpeptidase activity are defined by three conserved amino acid motifs: SXXK (including the active-site serine residue), SXN and KXG (9). Six PBPs have been identified in S. pneumoniae, including five high-molecular-weight PBPs (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, and 2X) and the low-molecular-weight PBP 3 (11). Pneumococcal resistance to penicillin is attributed to altered PBPs 1A, 2B, and 2X with reduced affinities for ß-lactam antibiotics (4, 13, 15). The mosaic genes that encode these low-affinity variants are the product of interspecies recombinational events involving horizontal transfer of PBP genes from closely related species (6, 15, 17).
Genetic analyses of pbp1a, pbp2b, and pbp2x have previously been conducted in penicillin-susceptible and -resistant S. pneumoniae isolates from Czechoslovakia (6), Japan (1, 2), Papua New Guinea (6), South Africa (6, 10, 17, 19-21), Spain (6, 10, 17), and the United States (1, 6). To our knowledge, similar studies have not been conducted with penicillin-resistant isolates from across Canada. The purpose of this study was to determine the nucleotide sequence of a 1-kb region encoding the penicillin-binding domain (PBD) of pbp1a, pbp2b, and pbp2x from Canadian isolates of S. pneumoniae.
Fifteen clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae were selected from more than 2,500 isolates collected between 1997 and 1999 as part of an ongoing Canadian national surveillance study (23). Selection of isolates was based upon the penicillin MIC and included five penicillin-susceptible (MIC,
0.06 µg/ml), five penicillin-intermediate (MIC, 0.12 to 1 µg/ml), and five penicillin-resistant (MIC,
2 µg/ml) isolates. The clinical and demographic parameters of the S. pneumoniae isolates examined in this study are listed in Table 1.
Chromosomal DNA was extracted and 1.1-, 1.3-, and 1.1-kb fragments
encoding the PBDs of
pbp1a,
pbp2b, and
pbp2x, respectively,
were amplified by PCR. The primers used for amplification of
these genes were as follows:
pbp1a, 5'-T
1827GGGATGGATGTTTACACAAATG
1849 and 5'-G
3023TCGTACTATTATTTGTGCTTGG
3001;
pbp2b, 5'-G
995GCTATTCTCTAAATGACCGT
1015 and 5'-A
2311GCTTAGCAATAGGTGTTGG
2292;and
pbp2x, 5'-T
958ATGAAAA(G/A)GA(T/C)CGT(C/G)T(G/A)GG
977 and 5'-A
2105GAGAGTCTTTCATAGCTGAAGC
2083. PCR was performed with
a Perkin-Elmer GeneAmp PCR System 9700 under the following conditions:
94°C for 5 min; 30 cycles at 94°C for 30 s, 57°C
for 30 s, and 72°C for 1 min; and a final extension at 72°C
for 7 min. The nucleotide sequences of the PBD of
pbp1a,
pbp2b,
and
pbp2x were determined by sequencing with a series of oligonucleotides
that were primed at intervals of ±275 nucleotides along
each gene. Sequencing reactions were performed with the ABI
PRISM BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction kit
and analyzed with an ABI PRISM 310 Genetic Analyzer (PE Applied
Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.). The nucleotide and deduced
amino acid sequences of PBP 1A, PBP 2B, and PBP 2X were aligned
and compared with the published sequence of penicillin-susceptible
S. pneumoniae R6 (
8,
14,
16).
Four of five penicillin-susceptible isolates (3203, 8099, 11184, and 14016) had PBP 2X nucleotide and amino acid sequences highly homologous (
99.7%) to R6 (Table 2). In contrast, isolate 12244 carried 57 (5.7%) nucleotide alterations, 9 of which were nonsynonymous substitutions, and possessed a Thr338-Ala alteration within the STMK motif. Although alterations in PBP 2X may mediate low-level resistance to cephalosporins with almost no effect on penicillin susceptibility (1, 10), this isolate remained susceptible to cefotaxime and ceftriaxone (MICs,
0.06 µg/ml) as well as related ß-lactams (data not shown). S. pneumoniae isolates for which penicillin MICs were
0.5 µg/ml had identical pbp2x genes and revealed extensive sequence divergence from R6, differing by 177 (17.7%) nucleotide substitutions and 38 (11.4%) amino acid alterations. These isolates had altered pbp1a, pbp2b, and pbp2x genes and two key amino acid substitutions (Thr338-Ala and Leu546-Val) within the pbp2x gene product. The majority of amino acid changes within the PBP 2X transpeptidase domain of these isolates were found to lie between the STMK and SSN motifs and/or within the locality of the C-terminal KSG motif. Recently, structural evidence linking penicillin resistance to the absence of a hydroxyl group following substitution of Ala for Thr338 has been presented (18). Kinetic parameters of PBP 2X variants have suggested that the substitution of Thr338 near the active-site serine residue significantly reduces the acylation efficiency of this resistance determinant by modifying the reactivity of Ser337 toward both the antibiotic and substrate analogues (18).
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TABLE 2. Distribution of nucleotide and amino acid substitutions in the PBD of PBP 2X from clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae
|
Within the PBD of
pbp2b, penicillin-intermediate and -resistant
isolates carried a variety of nonsynonymous substitutions (Table
3). The majority of these nucleotide and associated amino acid
alterations occurred within a ±250-bp area between Asn404
and Thr488 and were located within the vicinity of the SVVK
tetrad (which houses the active-site serine) and the SSN motif.
Four prominent substitutions were common to all isolates for
which the MIC was at least 0.12 µg/ml. These included
the replacement of Glu332 by Gly, Thr445 by Ala, Glu475 by Gly,
and Thr488 by Ser or Ala. The importance of the exchange of
Ala for Thr445, which has similarly been identified in all resistant
isolates analyzed to date (
10), was previously noted by Dowson
and coworkers (
7) and occurs adjacent to the conserved SSN motif.
Because the Asn residue of this motif has been proposed to form
a hydrogen bond with the carbonyl group of the penicillin R1
side chain, the substitution of Ala for Thr445 presumably disrupts
this hydrogen bond and leads to a reduction in the affinity
of the protein (
12).
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TABLE 3. Distribution of nucleotide and amino acid substitutions in the PBD of PBP 2B from clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae
|
Analysis of
pbp2b revealed highly similar patterns of nucleotide
and amino acid sequence variation among all resistant isolates
(MICs,

2 µg/ml), as well as penicillin-intermediate isolate
3455 (MIC, 1 µg/ml). These isolates showed simultaneous
alterations in
pbp1a,
pbp2b, and
pbp2x and substitution of Thr445-Ala
immediately following the SSN motif. A similar substitution
pattern within or adjacent to the three conserved amino acid
motifs was likewise seen when the penicillin MIC was 0.5 µg/ml.
By comparison, penicillin MICs were 0.12 to 0.25 µg/ml
when the same Thr445-Ala substitution was detected, but only
two of three PBP genes were altered.
All penicillin-susceptible isolates and three of five penicillin-intermediate (MICs, 0.12 to 0.25 µg/ml) isolates (12276, 3996, and 11413) showed a low degree of PBP 1A sequence variation (<1%) when compared to R6. The PBD of PBP 1A from these isolates revealed four to six nucleotide alterations and up to three amino acid substitutions (Table 4). In isolates with MICs between 0.03 and 0.25 µg/ml, nucleotide and amino acid alterations were essentially confined to an area surrounding the KTG motif. This included substitution of Asp533 by Glu or replacement of Ser540 with Thr. Widespread alterations within the PBD of PBP 1A were observed among five penicillin-resistant isolates (MICs,
2 µg/ml) and penicillin-intermediate isolate 3455 (MIC, 1 µg/ml), where nucleotide and amino acid sequences differed from those of R6 by 18.3 and 11.6%, respectively. Only isolates for which MICs were
0.5 µg/ml had amino acid alterations within the locality of the STMK and SRN motifs. Two key changes within these regions included the substitution of Ser or Ala for Thr371 adjacent to the active-site serine residue and that of Thr for Pro432 just after the SRN motif.
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TABLE 4. Distribution of nucleotide and amino acid substitutions in the PBD of PBP 1A from clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae
|
Examination of the PBD of PBP 1A from resistant isolates has
revealed that substitution of Thr371 by Ser or Ala is predominant
and is furthermore associated with the high level of resistance
in strains having simultaneous alterations in PBP 2X and PBP
2B. It has been hypothesized, therefore, that substitution of
Thr371 adjacent to the active-site serine may change the three-dimensional
structure of the transpeptidase domain and alter enzymatic activity
for peptidoglycan synthesis (
2). Consequently, for isolates
with altered
pbp2x and
pbp2b genes and in which Thr371 was substituted
by Ala in the PBP 1A STMK motif, penicillin MICs were

1 µg/ml.
For isolate 14126, which likewise had altered
pbp2x and
pbp2b genes, but which carried a Thr371-to-Ser substitution in PBP
1A, the penicillin MIC was 0.5 µg/ml. For three isolates
(11413, 3996, and 12276) with alterations in two PBP genes,
but not in the PBP 1A STMK or SRN motifs, penicillin MICs were
0.12 to 0.25 µg/ml. No substitutions within or adjacent
to the conserved amino acid motifs of PBP 1A were observed in
penicillin-susceptible isolates.
Sequence analysis revealed identical PBP 1A, 2B, and 2X substitution patterns among all isolates for which penicillin MICs were
1 µg/ml. PBP gene sequences from these isolates showed 99 to 100% identity with those previously described in isolates from Japan, South Africa, and Spain (2, 17, 20). Evaluation of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns showed that four of five penicillin-resistant isolates were genetically related and may be variants of the international Spanish/USA serotype 23F clone (data not shown).
In summary, penicillin MICs for clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae appear to be influenced by alterations in various combinations of the pbp1a, pbp2b, and pbp2x genes. Characterization of the PBP sequence profiles of these isolates, however, has suggested that not all steps of resistance increase are mediated solely by alterations in the genes encoding PBPs 1A, 2B, and 2X. In Canadian S. pneumoniae isolates, for example, identical mosaic PBP arrangements were found to occur at widely different MICs (1 to 4 µg/ml). This suggests that a limited number of analogous amino acid changes are associated with resistance in clinical isolates and that, at least theoretically, additional PBP and non-PBP genes may also be involved in the development of resistance. PBP 1B variants with reduced affinity have been previously described in interspecies transformations to penicillin resistance (5), and a low-affinity PBP 2A has been noted in several penicillin-resistant clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae (15). Further analysis will therefore determine whether amino acid substitutions in PBP 1B and PBP 2A contribute to the development of penicillin resistance in Canadian clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank the participating centers, investigators, and laboratory
site staff for their continued support. The technical assistance
of L. Palatnick, B. Weshnoweski, and T. Bellyou is appreciated.
Financial support from Abbott Laboratories, Ltd., Aventis Pharma, Bayer, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Group, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Ortho, Inc., Merck Frosst Canada & Co., and Pharmacia Upjohn is gratefully acknowledged.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Clinical Microbiology, Health Sciences Centre, MS673-820 Sherbrook St., Winnipeg, Manitoba R3A 1R9, Canada. Phone: (204) 787-4684. Fax: (204) 787-4699. E-mail:
knichol{at}hsc.mb.ca.


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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, October 2002, p. 3261-3264, Vol. 46, No. 10
0066-4804/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.46.10.3261-3264.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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