Quinolones inhibit bacterial type II DNA topoisomerases (e.g. DNA gyrase) and are among the most important antibiotics in current use. However, their efficacy is now being threatened by various plasmid-mediated resistance determinants. Of these, the pentapeptide repeat-containing (PRP) Qnr proteins are believed to act as DNA mimics and are particularly prevalent in gram-negative bacteria. Predi...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine the spread of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance determinants [qnr-like, aac(6')-Ib-cr and qepA genes] among nalidixic acid-resistant enterobacterial strains isolated from outpatients from Southeast Brazil, their transferability and the genetic structures associated with the qnr genes. METHODS The qnrA, qnrB and qnrS genes were screened by ...

We screened 313 ceftazidime-resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolates obtained in the United States from 1999 to 2004 for all three known qnr genes. A qnr gene was present in 20% of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates, 31% of Enterobacter sp. isolates, and 4% of Escherichia coli isolates. qnrA and qnrB occurred with equivalent frequencies and, except for qnrB in enterobacters, were stable over time. qnr...

Seventeen qnr-containing transconjugants were constructed with azide-resistant Escherichia coli J53 as the recipient, and the MICs of 12 quinolones were tested by agar dilution methods. Sitafloxacin, BAYy3118, and premafloxacin had higher activity in vitro than ciprofloxacin against transconjugants and donors containing qnr. The donors had higher quinolone MICs than the transconjugants.

OBJECTIVES To gain insight into the functionality of qnr-like genes of several bacterial species of Vibrionaceae that may encode quinolone resistance determinants. METHODS A PCR-based strategy was used to obtain qnr-like genes of reference strains of Vibrio vulnificus CIP103196, Vibrio parahaemolyticus CIP71.2 and Photobacterium profundum CIP106289 that were sequenced, cloned and expressed in...

OBJECTIVES To investigate mutations in the type II topoisomerase genes in quinolone-resistant mutants selected from bacteria harbouring plasmid-borne qnr genes. METHODS Mutants were selected by nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin from two Escherichia coli reference strains and corresponding transconjugants harbouring qnrA1, qnrA3, qnrB2 or qnrS1 genes. RESULTS The proportion of r...

Sir, Currently, a variety of qnrA, B and S genes are commonly isolated from clinically important Enterobacteriaceae. Moreover, qnr genes have been detected in non-typhi Salmonella enterica serotypes in Europe, the United States, Africa, Australia and Asia. In a recent study, the presence of qnrA1 in the Netherlands was first detected in a multidrug-resistant Enterobacter cloacae carrying a conj...

Quinolone resistance is caused mainly by chromosomal mutations in gram negative bacteria. In 1998, plasmid-mediated resistance to quinolones in clinical isolates was first reported in a Klebsiella pneumoniae strain. Locus qnr (quinolone resistance) was responsible of the quinolone resistance in this plasmid. qnr codes a protein whose function is protect both DNA-girase and topoisomerase IV from...

Quinolone resistance encoded by the qnr gene and mediated by plasmid pMG252 was discovered in a clinical strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae that was isolated in 1994 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center. The gene codes for a protein that protects DNA gyrase from quinolone inhibition and that belongs to the pentapeptide repeat family of proteins. The prevalence of the gene has ...

INTRODUCTION Although independently acquired, plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance appears to be linked with extended-spectrum or AmpC-type beta-lactamases. Since no data are available in African countries, the prevalence of qnr genes at the University Hospital Ibn Rochd, Casablanca, Morocco, was investigated. METHODOLOGY Between October 2006 and March 2007, the following 39 randomly selecte...