Integrons as surrogate marker for multi drug resistance in gram negative bacilli

Background Multi drug resistance (MDR) in gram negative bacilli (GNB) is an increasing global problem, which is often due to the acquisition of resistance genes from a shared pool. In MDR isolates, integrons-resistant gene cassettes, together with its accessory genetic elements (integrase) may be found in complex conglomerations on plasmids or on the chromosome and are widely acknowledged for their role in conferring MDR phenotype. Hence, the present study was done to evaluate the usefulness of integrase gene PCR as a surrogate marker for MDR in GNB.