ORCID
- Warburton, Philip: 0000-0002-5810-0296
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To measure the variability in carbapenem susceptibility conferred by different OxaAb variants, characterize the molecular evolution of oxaAb and elucidate the contribution of OxaAb and other possible carbapenem resistance factors in the clinical isolates using WGS and LC-MS/MS. METHODS: Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed on 10 clinical Acinetobacter baumannii isolates. Carbapenem MICs were evaluated for all oxaAb variants cloned into A. baumannii CIP70.10 and BM4547, with and without their natural promoters. Molecular evolution analysis of the oxaAb variants was performed using FastTree and SplitsTree4. Resistance determinants were studied in the clinical isolates using WGS and LC-MS/MS. RESULTS: Only the OxaAb variants with I129L and L167V substitutions, OxaAb(82), OxaAb(83), OxaAb(107) and OxaAb(110) increased carbapenem MICs when expressed in susceptible A. baumannii backgrounds without an upstream IS element. Carbapenem resistance was conferred with the addition of their natural upstream ISAba1 promoter. LC-MS/MS analysis on the original clinical isolates confirmed overexpression of the four I129L and L167V variants. No other differences in expression levels of proteins commonly associated with carbapenem resistance were detected. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated carbapenem MICs were observed by expression of OxaAb variants carrying clinically prevalent substitutions I129L and L167V. To drive carbapenem resistance, these variants required overexpression by their upstream ISAba1 promoter. This study clearly demonstrates that a combination of IS-driven overexpression of oxaAb and the presence of particular amino acid substitutions in the active site to improve carbapenem capture is key in conferring carbapenem resistance in A. baumannii and other mechanisms are not required.
DOI
10.1093/jac/dkaa502
Publication Date
2021-02-11
Publication Title
J Antimicrob Chemother
Volume
76
Issue
3
Embargo Period
2021-12-18
Organisational Unit
School of Biomedical Sciences
Keywords
Acinetobacter baumannii, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Bacterial Proteins, Chromatography, Liquid, Drug Resistance, Bacterial, Microbial Sensitivity Tests, Tandem Mass Spectrometry, beta-Lactamases
First Page
587
Last Page
595
Recommended Citation
Takebayashi, Y., Findlay, J., Heesom, K., Warburton, P., Avison, M., & Evans, B. (2021) 'Variability in carbapenemase activity of intrinsic OxaAb (OXA-51-like) β-lactamase enzymes in Acinetobacter baumannii.', J Antimicrob Chemother, 76(3), pp. 587-595. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkaa502
