We aimed to determine the resistance mechanisms of 27 T. pyogenes isolates from swine in the Jilin province of China. Drug sensitivity analysis indicated that most of the isolated strains were resistant to aminoglycosides. We investigated the genes involved in target alteration, drug inactivation, and increased efflux as potential resistance mechanisms. Two known aminoglycoside resistance genes...

We describe a novel family of putative efflux transporters (PET) found in bacteria, yeast and plants. None of the members of the PET family has been functionally characterized. The bacterial and yeast proteins display a duplicated internal repeat element consisting of an N-terminal hydrophobic sequence of about 170 residues, exhibiting six putative transmembrane alpha-helical spanners (TMSs), f...

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is concern in healthcare-associated infections. On the other hand, bacterial tolerance to other antimicrobials, like heavy metals, has been neglected and underestimated in hospital pathogens. Silver has long been used as an antimicrobial agent and it seems to be an important indicator of heavy metal tolerance. To explore this perspective, we searched for the ...

Clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus carry various antiseptic and disinfectant resistance determinants (qac genes) on a variety of plasmids. The biochemistry and specificity of these resistance genes in S. aureus is the subject of this report. The qac genes were separated into two families on the basis of resistance profiles and DNA homology. Isotopic and fluorimetric assays demonstrated ...

OBJECTIVES Multidrug efflux pumps are thought to be involved in mediating multidrug resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Here we aim to characterize hitherto uncharacterized multidrug efflux pumps from P. aeruginosa. MATERIALS AND METHODS We isolated a mutant, YM442, which showed elevated resistance to several antimicrobial agents from P. aeruginosa YM44 lacking four major multidrug efflux p...

Serratia marcescens is an important nosocomial agent known for causing various infections in immunocompromised individuals. Resistance of this organism to a broad spectrum of antibiotics makes the treatment of infections very difficult. This study was undertaken to identify multidrug resistance efflux pumps in S. marcescens. Three mutant strains of S. marcescens were isolated in vitro by the se...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical distribution and genotyping of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, its resistance to antimicrobial agents, and the possible mechanisms of this drug resistance. METHODS S. maltophilia isolates were collected from clinical specimens in a university hospital in Northwestern China during the period between 2010 and 2012, and were ident...

Carbapenems are important agents for the therapy of infections due to multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa; the development of carbapenem resistance hampers effective therapeutic options. To assess the mechanisms leading to resistance, 33 clinical isolates with differing degrees of carbapenem susceptibility were analyzed for the expression of the chromosomal beta-lactamase (ampC), the por...

The liver X receptors (LXRs) alpha and beta are responsible for the transcriptional regulation of a number of genes involved in cholesterol efflux from cells and therefore may be molecular targets for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. However, the effects of LXR ligands on cholesterol turnover in cells has not been examined comprehensively. In this study, cellular cholesterol handling (e...

Candida albicans biofilms are formed through three distinct developmental phases and are associated with high fluconazole (FLU) resistance. In the present study, we used a set of isogenic Candida strains lacking one or more of the drug efflux pumps Cdr1p, Cdr2p, and Mdr1p to determine their role in FLU resistance of biofilms. Additionally, variation in sterol profile as a possible mechanism of ...