Emergence of rmtC and rmtF 16S rRNA Methyltransferase in Clinical Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Occurrence of aminoglycoside (AG) resistance in clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is investigated in this study. Antimicrobial susceptibility test and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for amikacin and gentamicin were performed followed by polymerase chain reaction amplifications of AG modifying enzyme genes (aac(6′)-I, aac(6′)-II, aac(3)-II/VI, ant(2″)-I, aph(3′)-VI) and 16S methylases (rmtA-D, rmtF and armA). MIC₅₀ and MIC₉₀ were 64, 128 and > 256, >256 for amikacin and gentamicin, respectively. Four types of genes (aac(6′)-I, aac(3)-II/VI, ant(2″)-I and aph(3′)-VI) were found in 53 (57.6%) isolates. ant(2″)-I was the most predominant gene (28 isolates) followed by aac(6′)-I (23 isolates). Nineteen (20.6%) isolates were positive for 16S RMTases (rmtB, rmtC, rmtF and armA) and two isolates co-harboured rmtB + rmtC + rmtF.