Rapid Screening for Penicillin Susceptibility of Systemic Pneumococcal Isolates by Restriction Enzyme Profiling of the pbp2B Gene |
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Authors: | Bernard Beall Richard R Facklam Delois M Jackson and Holly H Starling |
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Institution: | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Childhood and Respiratory Infections, Atlanta, Georgia 30333 |
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Abstract: | Restriction digest profiling of pneumococcal pbp2b-specific amplicons was effective for screening penicillin resistance. The pbp2b amplicon of all pneumococcal isolates for which the MICs of penicillin were ≤0.03 μg/ml had one of two different susceptible restriction profiles, and all 33 isolates for which MICs were 0.5 μg/ml or greater had one of seven distinct resistant profiles. Low-concentration penicillin resistance (MICs = 0.06 μg/ml to 0.25 μg/ml) was associated with sensitive HaeIII profiles in some isolates; however, RsaI profiling and pbp2b sequence analysis of such isolates revealed that some isolates contained low-level resistant pbp2b alleles, while others had susceptible pbp2b alleles. This data indicates that low-level penicillin resistance is sometimes conferred by determinants other than pbp2b. |
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